Allegiance Bias

Leykin and DeRubeis (2009) believed that psychotherapy researchers have allegiance bias, which they describe as distortion related to personal beliefs. In effect, that the inferences made about study results are tainted by expectations and the standing beliefs of the researchers. This does not suggest researchers are wittingly distorting findings, but it does speak to the nature of intrinsic bias that is a part of our humanness. Because so much rests on the inferences made on findings, my suggestion is that researchers must employ another set of researchers to make inferences on findings, and perhaps choosing individuals whose primary experience rests on one a different side of the research hypothesis than the primary researchers. That way, perhaps, a balance of bias could be created. It sounds convoluted, but because the inferences we make in research find their way into real life applications, it seems critical to remove any allegiance bias in studies.

References

Leykin, Y., & DeRubeis, R. J. (2009). Allegiance in Psychotherapy Outcome Research: Separating Association From Bias. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 16(1), 54-65. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2850.2009.01143.x