data dredging

the inappropriate practice of searching through large files of information to try to confirm a preconceived hypothesis or belief without an adequate design that controls for possible confounds or alternate hypotheses. Data dredging may involve selecting which parts of a large data set to retain to get specific, desired results. An extreme example would be if a marketing researcher found that 91 out of 100 people surveyed were opposed to a certain product and then chose to focus only on the last 10 people in order to state that 9 out of 10 people prefer this product, when in fact there were only 9 out of 100 preferred it. See data snooping.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

morula

n. an early stage of embryological development, extending from the first cleavage of the zygote until the blastula is formed by further divisions of daughter cells.