True objectivity is unknowable yet still worth striving toward in research.

Evidence

No one is objective. Like the anthropologist David Graeber, I tend to think that if anyone tells you she or he is objective, that person is probably trying to sell you something. Still, I believe we can and must strive for objectivity, even if it’s an unattainable goal. In this book, I have tried to be fair and to consider as many perspectives as possible on every issue I examined. As my ideas and conclusions took shape, I particularly tried to consider points of view opposite my own. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 1082

Categorization

Category: Craft and Method

• DEFINE: Positions objectivity as an aspirational ideal rather than an attainable state of research practice.