On 30 October Robin Pearce wrote: >Objectivity and neutrality are illusory. It is better to make your >perspective explicit than to pretend not to have one. Perhaps neutrality >is possible in the hard sciences, but not in the social sciences. We are >always operating from a set of premises, implicit in the very way we >choose to define and operationalize our topics of research. It's more >intellectually honest, and also more thematically coherent, to choose a >point of view and explore it thoroughly.
�Objectivity and neutrality are illusory. It is better to make your perspective explicit than to pretend not to have one.� Robin wrote this in the context of psychology textbooks, but as it is stated in the form of a general principle, I�d like to address it in a more general context. Few would disagree that we all operate with a set of premises, and so on. Nevertheless, I would argue that there is a difference between a person who sets out to examine a subject from a specific perspective, and one who recognises that he or she can�t eliminate personal bias altogether but nevertheless strives to overcome the bias by consciously trying to consider all the material available. The person who writes from a specific perspective, with a particular aim in mind in relation to it, is more likely to select and interpret material to be in accord with that perspective. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Dept Southwark College, London [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.human-nature.com/esterson/index.html --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
