Figure 3

Bias Scores. The figure depicts three potential response patterns of an unbiased observer, an observer with a pro-regulation bias, and an observer with an anti-regulation bias. The anti-regulation/pro-regulation bias score or directional bias score is the difference between the response to the pro-regulation study and the reversely coded response to the anti-regulation study (unbiased observer: 5–5 = 0; observer with pro-regulation bias: 6–4 = 2; observer with anti-regulation bias: 4–6 = –2). The directional bias score indicates both the direction and the degree of the bias. By taking the absolute value of the directional bias score, one can calculate an absolute bias score, which indicates the degree of the bias irrespective of the direction (unbiased observer: 0, observer with pro-mask bias: 2, observer with anti-mask bias: 2).