Back to: Assess for Risk of Bias
Masking or Blinding protects against Detection bias (depending on who is masked)
If the individuals who collect or assess outcomes know who is in the treatment group and who is in the control group, it is possible that outcomes will be measured or collected differently in the two groups.
For example:
Doctors decide to weigh participants who were receiving a diet pill and told the control group to weigh themselves. People typically underestimate their weight, so the data from the study might be influenced by the method of measurement, leading to detection bias.
