4p16 Critical Thinking Essay

Bias

CHYS 4P16 Research Seminar
Hollie Warren

bi-as [bahy-uhs]
1. a personal and often unreasoned judgment for or against one side in a dispute (Dictionary.com)

Bias can better be understood as on overarching term that encompasses various social constructs such as stereotyping, prejudice, racism, labels, inequality and so forth. Bugeja (2007) discusses the complex connections between bias, stereotypes, media influence, and globalization and maintains that in order to resist stereotypes we must acknowledge that biases exist and affect the lived experiences of peoples and groups world wide. An emphasis is placed on recognizing which biases are more harmful and working towards overcoming them through responsible and inclusive
219). When mediums such as newspapers, books, magazines, and comic strips fail to properly represent the diversity of a social group they perpetuate the stereotypes and prejudices that consume our thoughts and feelings about ourselves and others (Begeja, 2007). These prejudice feelings and schemas develop at a very young age as children are becoming more exposed to various types of media, which are more often then not distortions of
The mass media is an ever-present and expanding source of images, messages, stereotypes, information, and viewpoints on political, social, and economic issues taking place locally and globally. Heavy viewing of television program has been shown to result in negative ethnic stereotypes (Lee, Bichard, Irey, Walt, Carlson, 2009). Television serves as a way for individuals to observe minority groups and form opinions based on their observations, particularly individuals who do not have contact with other ethnic groups (Lee et al.,