Your philosophical orientation may stem from one of the several paradigms and approaches
in research – positivist, interpretive, phenomenology, action or participatory, feminist, qualitative,
quantitative, mixed methods – and the academic discipline in which you have been
trained. The concept of ‘validity’ can be applied to any aspect of the research process. It
ensures that in a research study correct procedures have been applied to find answers to a
question. ‘Reliability’ refers to the quality of a measurement procedure that provides repeatability
and accuracy. ‘Unbiased and objective’ means that you have taken each step in an
unbiased manner and drawn each conclusion to the best of your ability and without introducing
your own vested interest. The author makes a distinction between bias and subjectivity.
Subjectivity is an integral part of your way of thinking that is ‘conditioned’ by your educational
background, academic discipline, philosophy, experience and skills. For example, a
psychologist may look at a piece of information differently than an anthropologist or a historian.