Business analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Business analysis - Essay Example 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 p articipants 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 ca n 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