The jeweler’s loupe: Validation

Abstract

Validating and theorizing are understood as parts of a common intellectual practice – theory creation – to know why reality is, or is changing, the way it is. This essay’s goal is to encourage debate about the role of validation in anthropological practice, with the aim of increasing that role. Argument is presented in Socratic fashion by posing, and responding to, questions. The first question inquires: What is validation? The second asks: Is getting the facts important in validation? The third queries: How do you get the facts? The fourth probes: What about objectivity in a biased world? The fifth demands: Why are intersubjectivity and representativeness important? Finally, the sixth section asks: If you do validate, can you get to the truth of something? It is concluded that skilled validation creates approximate truth, which is as close to knowing what is that people get.