The National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Information and Intelligent Systems awarded a $514,987 Project Grant to the University of Massachusetts (UMass) for the collaborative research project "Modeling and Mitigating Confirmation Bias in Visual Data Analysis" under the Computer and Information Science and Engineering program (CFDA 47.070). The 4-year project aims to (1) create models showing how existing beliefs and analytic goals can impact data-driven decision-making, and (2) design novel analytic interfaces to help analysts make less biased decisions by suggesting evidence that may disprove their beliefs. The research includes developing experimental methods to capture individuals' beliefs and mental representations about data patterns, measuring and modeling the effect of confirmation bias in visual analytic tasks, and designing and evaluating bias-mitigation interventions to be incorporated into real-world visual analytics tools. The project will also produce educational materials and empirical datasets to help data analysts, researchers, and the public understand and address confirmation bias in visual data interpretation. No sub-awards are planned under this grant.
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