Technical brief: Cognitive biases

Most of us like to think that we are capable of making rational decisions. However, all of us are inclined to interpret situations in biased ways, often based on our cultural norms and beliefs. Even the most well-trained intelligence brain is still a human brain.

Biases are normal processes designed to make decisions quickly. They are unconscious, automatic and non-controllable and there is no magical solution to overcome these reflexes.

However, knowing their effects, when and where they apply as well as some key structured techniques, can help mitigate their negative consequences. Systematically identifying their effects on your analysis is a habit that each analyst should possess.

This zip file includes the technical brief as well as a poster summarizing the content of this note. You can also consult the technical brief here and the poster here.