ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the contradictions of social science research with a critique of the idea of objectivity. Objectivity is the notion that a researcher should have no preconceived notions about a subject and should 'let the data speak for themselves', with no outside influence or intervention on the part of the researcher. Positivistic research assumes that the researcher can be an objective outsider that the use of a well-defined instrument and analytic methods will remove the human element, and that one can measure interactions between discrete variables. Ritzer's theory of the McDonaldization of society builds on Weber's work on bureaucracies and the notion that with increased bureaucratization comes with increased dehumanization. Calculability is even more important to the present discussion, because of its perceived relationship to objectivity. Calculability involves the emphasis on quantification, and the idea that quantification is a marker for quality.
