BIAS & LANGUAGE
APA 6th Edition
Trae Stewart, Ph.D., Associate Professor & EDCL Program Coordinator
Zane Wubbena, M.A., Ph.D. Student – School Improvement
(Updated July 2014)
Overview
 APA 6th Edition
 General Approaches
 Rules for Specific
Populations
 Reducing Bias
Exercise
 Helpful Resources
General Approaches
(Bias & Language)
 Refer to individuals using the terms that they
prefer to be called.
 When possible, use “neutral” terms.
 Avoid the word normal.
 Don’t use the word subjects
– Appropriate terms: participants, individuals, college
students, children, respondents
– When discussing statistics, however, subjects and
sample are appropriate
 Use active voice rather than passive
– E.g., “students completed the survey” NOT “students
were given the survey”
Rules for Specific Populations
(Racial & Ethnic Identity)
 Black and African American are acceptable terms
– Negro and Afro-American are inappropriate
 Capitalize Black and White
 Indicate specific country of origin if possible
– Cuban or Chinese NOT Hispanic or Asian
 Do not hyphenate multiword names
– Asian American NOT Asian-American
 Other acceptable terms:
– American Indian, Native American, Native North
American, Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Asian, Asian
American, or more specific subgroups such as Chinese,
Vietnamese, Korean, specific tribes, etc.
Rules for Specific Populations
(Gender)
 Gender is cultural and refers to men and women
as social groups. Sex is biological and should not
be confused with gender.
 Use the individual when referring to men and
women.
 Use “he or she” sparingly. Avoid he/she and
(s)he.
 Do not use –man as a generic ending for an
occupation, such as policeman.
 When possible, drop pronouns entirely.
Rules for Specific Populations
(Disabilities)
 Use disability to refer to an attribute of a person
and handicap to refer to the source.
– E.g., “steps and curbs handicap people who require a
ramp”
 Use people-first language, avoid equating people
with their condition
– disabled person  person with a disability.
– autistic  a person with autism.
 Avoid: crippled, retarded, invalid, special,
challenged, handi-capable, neurotics, the
disabled, stroke victim
– These terms may be used, however, if preferred by the
study population
Rules for Specific Populations
(Age)
 Be specific. Avoid open ended ranges such as
“under 18” or “over 65”.
 Age-specific Terms
– Ages 12 or under = girl or boy
– Ages 13-17 = young woman, young man, female
adolescent, or male adolescent
– Ages 18+ = women or men
– Use older adults instead of the elderly
Rules for Specific Populations
(Sexual Orientation)
 The term homosexuality is often associated with
negative stereotypes and only to men.
 Similarly, gay can be interpreted too broadly or
too narrowly.
 Use APA approved terms - lesbian, gay man,
bisexual man, and bisexual woman - to increase
specificity.
 When describing sexual behavior, same-gender,
male-male, female-female, and male-female
sexual behavior are appropriate.
Rules for Specific Populations
(Specify Group Designation)
 Example:
AVOID: “The sample included 400 undergraduate
students”
PREFERRED: “The sample of 400 undergraduate
students included 250 Whites (125 males and 125
females) and 150 Blacks (75 males and 75 females).”
 Example:
AVOID: “The 50 American Indians”
PREFERRED: “The 50 American Indians
represented…(25 Choctaw, 15 Hopi, and 10 Seminole)…”
 When relevant, human subject samples should be
described with respect to generation, linguistic
background, socioeconomic status, national
origin/tribe/peoplehood, sexual orientation, special interest
group membership, etc.
Rules for Specific Populations
(Avoid Evaluative Language)
 Example:
– AVOID: “…the articulate Mexican American
professor…”
– PREFERRED: “…the Mexican American
professor…”
 Qualifying adjectives may subtly suggest that the
"articulate" Mexican American professor is an
exception to the norm (for Mexican American
professors).
Rules for Specific Populations
(Clinical Terms)
 Terms such as “borderline” and “at risk”
should be avoided unless properly explained.
– Specify the diagnosis that is borderline
• Ex. “people with borderline personality
disorder”
– Identify the risk and the people it involves
• Ex. “children at risk for early school dropout”
 Dementia is preferred to senility, better is
“senile dementia of the Alzheimer’s type.”
Reduce the Bias
(Part I: Questions)
Read each of the following statements. Then, edit each to
reduce the bias in language. Suggested answers follow.
Changes are in red and underlined.
1. The participants were asked to think of their
favorite teacher from elementary school and to
rate her on the 20 evaluative dimensions.
2. The experimenter can decide when he should
provide the debriefing.
3. Typically, the department chairmen must give his
approval for each traineeship that is awarded.
4. The participants were 20 male students and 20
coeds.
Reduce the Bias
(Part I: Answers)
1. The participants were asked to think of their
favorite teacher from elementary school and to
rate him or her on the 20 evaluative dimensions.
1. The experimenter can decide when he should to
provide the debriefing.
2. Typically, the department chairmen must give his
approval for each traineeship that is awarded.
3. The participants were 20 male students and 20
coeds female students.
Reduce the Bias
(Part II: Biased Text)
5. A psychological test battery was given to gay men and
women and to normal men and women to determine whether
there would be a relation between childhood sexual abuse
and sexual identity.
6. College students were randomly assigned to same-sex or
cross-sex dyads. After a Coca-Cola break they were asked to
rate the etiquette of their partner. Coeds rated girl partners
higher than they rated male partners. The men in this study
rated the coeds higher only when the coeds were ladylike
and not assertive (i.e., when they did not initiate social
exchanges or change a topic of conversation). However, the
lowest etiquette ratings were assigned by men to other guys.
Independent observations indicated that the guys acted more
masculine with other guys than with the gals but that the gals
were more masculine with members of the gentle sex than
with threatening men.
Reduce the Bias
(Part II: Revisions & Edits)
5. A psychological test battery was given to gay men and women
lesbians and to normal heterosexual men and women to determine
whether there would be a relation between childhood sexual abuse
and sexual identity.
6. College students were randomly assigned to same-sex or crosssex dyads. After a Coca-Cola break they were asked to rate the
etiquette of their partner. Coeds Female students rated girl female
partners higher than they rated male partners. The men male
students in this study rated the coeds their female partners higher
only when the coeds female partners were ladylike and not assertive
(i.e., when they did not initiate social exchanges or change a topic of
conversation). However, the lowest etiquette ratings were assigned
by men male students to other guys male students. Independent
observations indicated that the guys male students were acted more
masculine assertive with other guys male students than with the gals
female students but that the gals female students were more
masculine assertive with members of the gentle sex other female
students than with threatening men male students.
For More Information
Purdue OWL
APA 6th edition Manual
• p. 70-77 Reducing Bias
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