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Objectivity and Subjectivity in the Ethnographic MethodRoyal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Danish Research Institute of Food Economics, Frederiksberg, Denmark The author discusses the application of the concepts of objectivity and subjectivity in ethnographic theory and research, and finds that one kind of subjectivity, that of applying a particular perspective to ethnography, is central and inevitable. Today, we acknowledge that objectivity is relative to a given perspective or preunderstanding, but the applied perspective must compete with other perspectives or paradigms in its effectiveness in our understanding and managing of a lived reality. In some situations, where no such fruitful alternative exists, a simple correspondence between word and world can be an acceptable notion of truth. Here, an all-encompassing consensus of what would be objective and subjective can be expected. Thus, the concepts retain a central function without completely altering the meanings they have in everyday and scientific language, although the values traditionally ascribed to the notions have changed to some extent and a more refined conceptualization has been reached.
Key Words: ethnography • truth • bias • philosophy of science • postmodernism • grounded theory
Qualitative Health Research, Vol. 15, No. 5,
647-668 (2005) |
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