THREATS TO OBJECTIVITY IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH

Abstract

Objectivity in scientific research have been a frequently discussed issue in the scientific community given that interpretivist scholars have resisted the crucial role of the positivist paradigm which dominates in social sciences as well. This paper seeks to critically consider the main criterion (or principle) of scientific knowledge – objectivity – from the standpoint of social science research. The conducted analysis shows that objectivity is not only the key tenet of quantitative research, but also is equally important in qualitative studies which are used in numerous disciplines. The main objective of this paper is, in order to avoid various threats to objective research, to conceptualize this leading sicentific principle that may enhance the methodological quality of science; for example, lack of bias, replicability, reproducibility, etc.