Editorial: Science unskewed – acknowledging and reducing ‘risk of bias’ in parenting research

Abstract

There is a growing awareness that ‘risk of bias’ distorts the process of generating and interpreting evidence and threatens the validity of psychological and psychiatric research at a number of different levels (Rutter & Pickles, ). Such threats are likely to be greatest in fields of study focused on socially/politically contentious issues where beliefs and values are strongly held – especially where there is a lack of methodological rigour.