Question

Larry believes that women like to talk and gossip more than men, and concludes from this that women are more likely to talk on cell phones while driving. In an effort to conclude whether his hypothesis is valid, he thinks back to all the people he saw driving and talking on cell phones that morning. Which of the following threatens the validity of any conclusions Larry comes to?

a) Confirmation bias
b) Sampling bias
c) Hindsight bias
d) Observer effect

Answer 1

The answer is sampling bias. This refers to the bias that can occur when a sample is collected from a population and certain members of the population are more likely to be chosen than others.

Step-by-step explanation:

The answer to the question is b) Sampling bias. Sampling bias refers to the bias that can occur when a sample is collected from a population and certain members of the population are more likely to be chosen than others. In Larry's case, if he only remembers seeing women talking on cell phones while driving, he might draw a conclusion that women are more likely to engage in this behavior. However, this conclusion may be invalid if Larry's observation is influenced by the fact that he unconsciously paid more attention to women using cell phones while driving and ignored or forgot about men who were doing the same. This would be an example of sampling bias.