A Major Example of Cognitive Bias - Essay Example

? Business Analysis Contents Contents 2 Block 2 Task Cognitive Bias 3 References 6 Block 2 Task 2 - Social Desirability Bias 7 References 9 Block2 Task 3 - Deconstructing What We See 10 Reference 12 Block 2 Task 4 - President Can Read Only One Page 13 References 15 Block 2 Task 1 - Cognitive Bias There is a simple fact, if a person is asked an honest question; he/she will respond an honest answer. However, this answer will be influenced by many internal and external factors surrounding the individual and can result in cognitive bias. A cognitive bias occurs when the answers given by the participants are different from the real facts. This occurs due to the fact that individual always want to be regarded as good and acceptable to others as well as the society. So any negative traits or behaviour associated with them is hided because of the fear of norms of the society. It is difficult to surpass these distortions. They are found to have a profound effect on the job which is already considered tough in terms of measuring the perception, experience and memory. The worst effect of cognitive bias can result in spoiling or limiting an otherwise solid research design. In conducting qualitative research, it is crucial to be aware of the biases which occur due to cognition. These can be emerging from effects of experiments as well from participants or respondents. Even though these biases are difficult in terms of complete elimination, a combination of these techniques can help in reducing the distortions caused by cognitive bias. A major example of cognitive bias occurs during qualitative research, where the measurement techniques such as questionnaire, focus group interviews are flowed, because of cognitive biases. This is because the objective of asking questions to the comsumers is rooted to their opinions and thoughts. According to Zambardino & Goodfellow (2007), evaluation of advertising and branding is fundamentally rooted fundamentally in questioning individuals regarding their recollections and attitudes. However, the advertising does not operate according to these methods. Advertisements employ a cognitive discourse in order to uncover emotional phenomena during advertisements and thus introduce a cognitive bias into the measurement process. There are various kinds of cognitive biases, which not only affect the consumer but also the researcher. Groupthink, also known as herd behaviour or the bandwagon effect is a behaviour which occurs when members in a group conceal or minimize their personal opinions or beliefs to maintain cohesiveness in the group. In case of group setting, participants may consider they are left out or uncomfortable if the personal viewpoint expressed by them is not accepted (Asch, 1955). The participants tend to move along and agree with what the group is concluding, even if they have a different opinion or their viewpoint does not match with the majority. This is a common problem when information is gathered in collective techniques such as focus group and this is a major cognitive bias which results in skewed results. Another form of cognitive bias which influences research is the availability bias. When respondents are asked questions, it is most likely that they recall their more recent experiences or recall only those experiences that come to their mind readily. The problem with this is that much of a participant’s recall is based in cognitive processes that focus on memorable or vivid occurrences. This results in a biased result because the absolute information is not obtained from the respondent. Cognitive biases not only influence the beliefs and opinions of the consumer, but also have the potential to negatively impact the researcher. Confirmation bias can be considered as a common form of bias occurring from the viewpoint of the researcher. It is the perception where a researcher opts for information that matches the conceptions already present in the mind and rejects all other new information, so as to avoid any conflict in beliefs and attitudes. Researchers tend to favour information that supports their expectations, and tend to ignore and pacify the evaluation process for those information not fitting into their current expectations level. This can occur when a researcher asks questions in a certain direction which results in a conclusion based on a biased question. Another cognitive bias having the power to influence the researcher is known as the hindsight bias. Hindsight bias happens when events are seen to be more predictable than they actually are. When a researcher has expectation regarding the outcome of research, this may prevent a realistic appraisal of the beliefs and opinions of the participants and emotional recollections. For example in researching how the current economic downturn has affected the confidence of the individuals, a focus of a researcher may be inclined on negative comments and views, neglecting to observe statements that may be optimistic in nature (Ledoux, 1996). Their own opinion that the bad economy of the state has equally impacted everyone in a manner which is negative can bias their objectivity and yield inaccurate or incomplete results. Awareness of the hindsight bias prevents anchoring. The occurrence of anchoring results in the loss of information. This information can be small, as well as important because of its emotional content. References Asch, S. E., 1955. Opinions and social pressure. Scientific American, 193, pp. 31-35. Ledoux, J., 1996. The Emotional Brain: The mysterious underpinnings of emotional life. New York: Simon & Schuster. Zambardino, A. and Goodfellow, J., 2007. Being ‘Affective’ in Branding. Journal of Marketing Managaement, 23(1-2), pp. 27-37. Block 2 Task 2 - Social Desirability Bias Social desirability bias shows the basic nature of human to represent oneself in a manner which is positive and socially acceptable to others. This tendency in turn takes the form of opinions which are over-reportive and behaviours which are congruent with the socially acceptable values. It also takes form of under-reporting those values which are considered as socially undesirable. Since the major objective of consumer behaviour research is to examine the influences of people on behaviours and attitudes and as well as symbolic/social presentation, consumer research is considered to be a potential sufferer from the negative effects of social desirability bias. King and Bruner’s (2000) investigated papers which were published in noted journals of marketing from 1980- 1997. The investigation revealed that out of the total marketing journals, social desirability bias was revealed in only 13 journals as a potential source of error. The term Social desirability can be defined as a factor used in scientific as well as quantitative research, where it is considered that a person may respond to questions asked in an interview in what the individual believes is acceptable socially, not being accurate in the absolute manner. The ground belief behind this observation is that the person does not want to be deceitful or malicious but is not ready to disclose facts or information that the person believes will be judged as negative by the society. This bias is generally seen mostly with questions which are personal and more sensitive, such as race, drug use and opinions on sexual behaviour. These issues, being sensitive, can hinder the accumulation of actual data and information and makes the conclusions skewed Researchers using interviews and questionnaires depend on correct and truthful responses from respondents with the aim of drawing meaningful conclusions. Responding in a socially desirable manner is the tendency of individuals which is aimed at presenting a favourable image of them (Johnson and Fendrich 2005). There is a self-deception among participants where they believe that the information reported by them is correct. This deception or faking occurs to avoid criticism, conform to socially accepted values or gain social approval (Huang et al 1998). Responses which are socially desirable are most likely to occur in questions which are socially sensitive (King and Brunner 2000. In the current research, which is aimed to find out the actual interest levels of the university students in charity work, there is a huge scope of learning the desirability bias. Any act of kindness or benevolence is considered as good by the society at large. Hence when the respondents were asked regarding their interest and enthusiasm, it is very clear that they will portray them as a good and acceptable citizen, by giving answers which reflect their high patriotism and enthusiasm in social activities in the society. In the present study, a research has been done on the students of the university by a researcher, hired by the university. Taking cue from the social desirability bias, it can be seen that the students, when asked about their activities in charity work, will definitely try to increase the amount of time, they put into all activities of charity. This major reason behind this bias is their perception that if the students portray themselves as responsible citizens and enthusiastic in the social work, they will be well accepted by the university and might profit in terms of good grades. Apart from this, since these questions are asked in a group activity or open forums, these students will definitely try to hide the real hours put and increase the numbers, so that they are seen as responsible citizens and socially acceptable to their colleagues and peers. Hence, it can be easily said that because of the social desirability bias, the results accumulated by the researcher can be drastically different from the actual results. To decrease the occurrence of social bias in research studies, a desirability scale, known as Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale is being extensively used. This scale is composed of a set of questions specifically designed to analyse the chances of a participant answering in a socially acceptable, rather than accurate and truthful, manner. The questions implemented are about attitudes and personal traits and if a person is found not disclosing even slightly negative answers about him/her, the individual may be deemed as not acceptable and an invalid respondent. Considering the complexity of the social desirability bias, this scale of measurement has been the most widely used scale to measure and check the social desirability bias in research areas. References Adams, S., Matthews, C., Ebbeling, C., Moore, C., Cunningham, J., Fulton J. and Herbert J. 2005. The effect of social desirability and social approval on self?reports of physical activity. American Journal of Epidemiology, 161(4) pp. 389?398. Babcock, J., Costa, D., Green, C. and Eckhardt, C. 2004. What situations induce intimate partner violence? A reliability and validity study of the Proximal Antecedents to Violent Episodes (PAVE) scale. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(3) pp. 433?442 DiFranceisco, W., McAuliffe, T. and Sikkema,K., 1998. Influences of survey instrument format and social desirability on the reliability of self?reported high risk sexual behaviour. AIDS and Behaviour, 2(4) pp. 329?337 Edens, J., Buffington, J., Tominic , T., and Riley, B.2001. Effects of positive impression management on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Law and Human Behaviour, 25(3) pp. 235?256. Huang, C., Liao, H. and Chang, S. 1998. Social desirability and the Clinical Self?Report Inventory: methodological reconsideration. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54(4) pp. 517?528. King, M. and Bruner, G. 2000. Social desirability bias: a neglected aspect of validity testing. Psychology and Marketing, 17(2) pp. 79–103. Block 2 Task 3 - Deconstructing What We See The study of images and signs and the process of analyzing these symbols for the purpose of research are known as semiotics. It deals with the analysis of symbols and signs and finding out meaningful conclusions for the purpose of research (Chandler, 2002). These images can act as elements of language or other systems of communication, and comprises of pragmatics, syntactic and semantics (Streeter, 2005). Semiotics can be considered while manipulating any kind of communication or art, either in building images or writing (Leeuwen, 2004). While analysing the current images, it can be summarised that one of the images looks primitive than the other. Even through both of the images doesn’t differ much in terms of year of establishment. By analysing the buildings, it can be easily said that there has been a transformation in the way construction is been done, over the past century. The image of the first building portrays a more orthodox and conventional building with the architectural norms of that era fully complied and followed. So the image has many similarities with most of the other buildings of that era with a primitive architecture. It can be seen that there is an iron fence surrounding the building which depicts a protective and authoritative environment. This architecture can be justified by the fact that in that era of education, people wanted to be protected and directed. There is symmetry in the building and more emphasis is given to the centre, which again justified the power of the central administration in terms of authority and dictatorship. The new building has been established with the aim of maximum interaction with the external environment. The present generation is very much goal oriented and challenging. They don’t like to go by rules and traditions and this is reflected in the architecture of the building. A close look at the building can confirm many doors and entrances and exit to the building, unlike the old one, where there is a central opening and exit. This image reflects an open and competitive environment to the students. The gathering place or the compound area reflects the increasing need for socialisation among individuals, and this goes in sync with the objective of the current educational system. Another point which can be noted is that legacy carried by the buildings as well as the university. From the image, it is very clear that in the new building, the university logo is very prominent and catches attention. It can be associated from the fact that the university, in present environment has become a well known and popular place of learning. The same is not with the old building. In the old building, the image or the logo of the university is not clear, this supports that fact the back during that time, the university was not known to that extent. Apart from this, from the structure of the building, it is clear that the old building carries an identical symmetry which is absent in the new building. In the old building, this symmetry points the authority and the concentration of power to the central organisation or the government. The new building has many points of attraction, which reflects a highly democratic and independent society, where the power is distributed to the various strata of the society as well as the government. Understanding deconstruction is of the utmost importance to the researcher. In creating new pieces and interpreting studies from pervious works, it is important to fully understand the significance of varying symbols (Hong and Hwang, 2006). While the researcher tries to find out what the symbols mean, the observer has a control over the process. This is done by using the interpretation in different ways, and focusing on the absolute nature of the object or symbol (Galpin, 1998). Likewise, understanding the process of deconstruction will help the researcher to understand and implement the further techniques and abilities in the creation of new signs, symbols and plans. The researcher must understand how deconstruction functions in the cognitive area of his or her respondents in order to effectively filter the exact data for the research. Hence, although both images are of the same university, both buildings depict a different timeline altogether. The architecture of the building depicts a lot about the educational system and the mindset of individuals prevalent in their respective time. This is the influence of semiotics where a sign can tell a story, providing many different conclusions from one simple image that represent different situations, ultimately building a new theory compiled from the various opinions and views (Eco, 1979). Reference Chandler, D., 2002. Semiotics: The Basics. New York: Routledge. Eco, U., 1979. A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Hong, D and Hwang, M., 2006. The Status and the Prospects of Deconstruction. Design Research Society . International Conference in Lisbon Leeuwen, T. V., 2004. Introducing Social Semiotics. New York: Routledge. Galpin, R., 1998. Erasure in Art: Destruction, Deconstruction, and Palimpsest. [online] Available at [Accessed 30 May 2013]. Streeter, T., 2005. The Semiotics of Media. [online] Available at [Accessed 30 May 2013]. Block 2 Task 4 - President Can Read Only One Page The flowing advice was provided for the debate. The main objective of the policies of the corporate tax should be to safeguard the stakeholder’s interest. The taxes which are gathered for the organisations should be based on the services these businesses provide or the products they manufacture. A taxation policy which can be easily moulded or compromised by tax lobbyists should be avoided (Sage et al, 1998). The tax policy should be made looking at the larger picture and not serving only a few portion of the society. The state of US currently holds the position of levying the highest corporate tax, which is 35 percent. Among all the countries in the current economic scenario, this amount is the highest (Mucenski-Keck, 2012). Due to this heavy tax being charges, most of the goods and services are becoming expensive and not reachable for the common man. It is suggested that the tax slab should be brought down to 28 percent from 35 percent. This will attract the units of businesses who have left US because of the high taxation policies. These business units are in search for places with lucrative and minimised taxation policies and lowering of the tax slab will help in bringing the back. But lowering taxation will eventually lead to lower collection by the government. This issue can be resolved by making stringent policies and rules, so that individuals who somehow evade the taxation process, cannot do so further and the evaded tax money is brought back to the government. The small scale industries should be given exemption from the taxation policy. These industries run on smaller profits and their growth and improvement is very essential for the overall growth of the economy (Covey et al, 2005). They are also responsible for employing majority of individuals in the economy. At present, the government does not offer any exemption to these small scale industries. The present taxation policy has one more loophole. A lot of companies are doubling their profits by routing their taxes in the tax havens policy. Because of this, the government is at loss (Nash et al, 2002). The government should step in to revise the taxation policy and check the path of routing the tax. Irregular policies should be checked and stopped immediately, which is resulting in a loss to the government. The tax code should be structured in such a way that more emphasis is given to the home investments rather than abroad (Geisler and Larkins, 2002). References Covey, T., Durst, R. and Ryan, J., 2005. U.S. macroeconomic and tax policy: impacts on U.S. farm operations. Agricultural Finance Review, 65(2), pp.149 – 163. Geisler, G.G. and Larkins, E.R., 2002. Marginal tax rates on foreign profits of U.S. multinationals. Advances in Taxation, 14, pp. 85 – 116. Mucenski-Keck, L., 2012. US corporate tax reform proposals: staying competitive in a global economic downturn. Emerald Management Reviews, 82(12) pp.42-47. Nash, C.Y., Wilder, W.M. and Stocks, M.H., 2002. The effect of capital gains tax policy on investment company capital gains realizations. Advances in Taxation, 14, pp. 245 – 270 Sage, J.A., Stiner, M.S. and Sage, L.G., 1998. Multinationality of US corporations: the tax implications. Managerial Finance, 24(5), pp.15 – 28. Read More