Universal Principles of Design, Updated and Expanded Third Edition
by William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, Jill Butler
166 Selection Bias
A bias in the way evidence is collected that distorts analysis and conclusions.
Selection bias results from the nonrandom sampling of evidence. Accordingly, it over-represents certain aspects of the evidence and under-represents others, distorting analysis and conclusions. Humans are pattern-detecting and pattern-making machines. When we see dots, we try to connect them. It is only when we understand the perils of biases like selection bias that we pause and make sure the dots that have been collected are worthy of connecting. For example, if subscribers of a science magazine are surveyed and their responses generalized to the overall population, science-minded viewpoints would be over-represented in the analysis and results. ...
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