Participant pool bias

Systematic distortion in research findings caused by the demographic characteristics and backgrounds of study participants, rather than by the technology or intervention being evaluated. In accessibility research, participant pool bias is especially consequential because disability communities are diverse — factors such as age of language acquisition, school type, technology experience, and home language use can significantly influence how participants respond to and evaluate assistive technologies. Studies have shown that participant characteristics can explain more variance in evaluation scores than the actual system being tested, making standardized demographic reporting essential for cross-study comparisons.