🧠 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.