🧠 Recall Bias [Neurosurgery Wiki]

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===== 🧠 Recall Bias =====

**Recall bias** is a type of **systematic error** that occurs when participants in a study **do not accurately remember past events or experiences**.

It is especially common in:
  * **Self-report surveys**
  * **Retrospective studies**
  * **Cross-sectional designs**

==== ⚠️ Why It Matters ====
Recall bias can distort findings by:
  * Overestimating or underestimating past exposures or outcomes
  * Affecting comparisons between groups (e.g., cases vs. controls)
  * Reducing the validity of associations or correlations

==== 📚 Example ====
In an alumni career survey, participants may:
  * Forget exact years of achievements
  * Misremember the number of grants or publications
  * Selectively recall certain experiences based on current satisfaction

==== 🧵 Summary ====
Recall bias undermines the **accuracy** and **reliability** of self-reported data, and should be acknowledged as a limitation in study design.