An inclination that influences judgment. The term "bias" may be used in a merely descriptive way to mean an inclination, but more often it is used as a term of evaluation to mean an inclination that influences judgment and ought not to. "Prejudice" is a synonym for bias in this pejorative sense. However, bias that cannot be completely eliminated in the work of scientific investigators, in contrast to bias or prejudice that can and should be eliminated, is also an important topic in research ethics. For example, the way disciplinary training inclines people to interpret the results of an experiment in terms of the established categories of that discipline is a feature of research, and one that must be taken into account in assessing responsible behavior in research. Since undertaking research requires undergoing advanced training in a discipline, it is impossible to eliminate all preconceptions from one's interpretation of the data. Of course, researchers may hold disciplinary biases and still be unbiased in other respects. For example, they may be impartial on the question of the truth or falsity of a particular research hypothesis.

This definition is in context to Ethics. See more contextual defintions for Bias.