Between Subjectivity and Objectivity in Educational Research: How validity is maintained in educational research

Abstract

Validity has always been a major concern for researchers, particularly within the educational field because of its effectiveness in presenting a trusted reflection of a certain phenomenon in the society. There are several definitions for validity due to rise of different research paradigms in research which influenced the way how validity should or can be achieved to ensure accurate analysis and, therefore, real representation of the context under investigation. In this paper, the debate established between objectivity and subjectivity in qualitative and quantitative research is discussed in an attempt to recognise the possibility to reach a view of mediation in how validity can be maintained in both types of research.