Gender and culture in Psychology: universality and bias
Psychology claims to discover truths about all humans. But many studies only test certain groups, so their findings may not apply to everyone — that is bias undermining universality.
Real World
Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan (2010) showed that 96% of psychology participants came from Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies, yet these findings were presented as universal human behaviour.
Exam Focus
Use the acronym WEIRD to demonstrate awareness of sampling bias — examiners reward precise terminology over vague criticism.
Evaluation Scaffold
A four-step framework for high-quality evaluation. Use this for 'assess', 'evaluate', and 'to what extent' questions.
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