Allegations of bias
Their logic and morality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14690165 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nigel Blake (Hong Kong Metropolitan University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1992 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 305-316 |
| Publication date | 1992-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0307-5079 • E-ISSN: 1470-174X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03075079212331382567 |
| OpenAlex | W2090689259 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 2 |
The issue of academic bias became prominent in the 1980s and may come to the fore as institutions rely increasingly on the use of distance teaching style materials. How may it be legitimately assessed? Bias is not prejudice. It is primarily a characteristic of a discourse, not a person or institution. Avoiding bias does not entail disinterestedness. Its criterion is interested misrepresentation. Misrepresentation may be understood as disregarding the ‘canonic representation ̊s of an issue—that which is conventionally accepted, amongst workers in a field, as the basic understanding of an issue necessary to speak competently on it. The concept of bias is needed to distinguish between different kinds of misrepresentation. Allegations of interestedness must meet stringent criteria. There is no neutral formula for assessing misrepresentation. Judgements of inclusivity and balance, for instance, cannot be made mechanically and without personal judgement. Further, they may themselves be biased. Nor are any other neutral formulae plausible. Judgements of bias are wholly an academic affair, and cannot be the province of institutional managers or external authorities. Monitoring bias is a function of specialist academic debate, requiring typical academic forebearance
Judgement · Misrepresentation · Morality · Political science · Sociology · Higher Education Governance and Development · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Highly cited | No |
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