Sample Bias?

Submitted by Lawrence A. Husick (United States), May 17, 2010 at 08:08

Daniel: What you have here is sample bias. It's the same as if you go car shopping, and try out, say, a new Honda Minivan. For the next few days, all you seem to see on the road is Honda Minivans. There are no more of them, it's just that you've become especially sensitive to noticing them. Same here. There are literally thousands of beauty pageants and homecoming queen elections around the world. You just happened to notice the muslim winners. Asking the question is fine if it is based on solid evidence, but you need to do a bit more analysis before you ask. Otherwise, you open yourself up to charges of prejudice yourself. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but so is bias.

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