Reference no: EM132622561

According to Academy4SC (2020), confirmation bias is "the inclination to seek, interpret, prefer, and/or recall information in a manner that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or biases." This type of bias is prevalent today more than ever with the presidential election coming up. For example, focusing on the effectiveness of mask wearing, one political party leans toward masks being the ultimate solution and resource for curing COVID-19, while the opposing party does not wish to to impose on the freedoms of the American people.

This has become controversial because while one party seeks evidence that supports their point of view, the opposing party is doing the same. This type of bias has presented itself in many issues over the past few months. In addition to the controversial issue of mask wearing vs American freedoms, one could argue the same of police brutality. When trying to support a specific stance, one could deliberately seek out sources that support their preconceived point of view such as areas that are highly saturated with police brutality opposed to areas that have not experienced any cases of police brutality in a significant amount of time. Avoiding this hindrance to critical thinking is key to gathering credible and unbiased data.

Academy4SC (2020). Confirmation Bias: No Need To Test My Hypothesis.