title: Objectivity and subjectivity in the ethnographic method.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Danish Research Institute of Food Economics, Frederiksberg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Allan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hegelund
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural / Q000379:methods*; D003625:Data Collection; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D019370:Observation / Q000379:methods; D010684:Philosophy; D036301:Qualitative Research; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012107:Research Design; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations; D012586:Science / Q000379:methods*; D015983:Selection Bias