{"id":78152,"date":"2025-09-05T01:57:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T05:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=78152"},"modified":"2025-09-05T01:57:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T05:57:17","slug":"scientific-objectivity-is-a-myth-cultural-values-and-beliefs-always-influence-science-and-the-people-who-do-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/scientific-objectivity-is-a-myth-cultural-values-and-beliefs-always-influence-science-and-the-people-who-do-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientific objectivity is a myth \u2013 cultural values and beliefs always influence science and the people who do it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-78153\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science.png 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science-250x188.png 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Even if you don\u2019t recall many facts from high school biology, you likely remember the cells required for making babies: egg and sperm. Maybe you can picture a swarm of sperm cells battling each other in a race to be the first to penetrate the egg.<\/p>\n<p>For decades, scientific literature described human conception this way, with the cells\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1086\/494680\">mirroring the perceived roles of women and men<\/a>\u00a0in society. The egg was thought to be passive while the sperm was active.<br \/>\n<center><iframe width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/65BV5dXXxzM\" title=\"Look Who&#39;s Talking opening credits\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Over time, scientists realized that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cell.com\/biophysj\/pdf\/S0006-3495(88)83000-5.pdf\">sperm are too weak<\/a>\u00a0to penetrate the egg and that the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1146\/annurev-cellbio-120219-021751\">union is more mutual<\/a>, with the two cells working together. It\u2019s no coincidence that these findings were made in the same era when new cultural ideas of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.1918891117\">more egalitarian gender roles<\/a>\u00a0were taking hold.<\/p>\n<p>Scientist\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/plato.stanford.edu\/entries\/fleck\/\">Ludwik Fleck<\/a>\u00a0is credited with first describing science as a cultural practice in the 1930s. Since then, understanding has continued to build that scientific knowledge is always consistent with the cultural norms of its time.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these insights, across political differences, people strive for and continue to demand scientific objectivity: the idea that science should be unbiased, rational and separable from cultural values and beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>When I entered my Ph.D. program in neuroscience in 2001, I felt the same way. But reading a book by biologist Anne Fausto-Sterling called \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hachettebookgroup.com\/titles\/anne-fausto-sterling\/sexing-the-body\/9781541672895\/\">Sexing the Body<\/a>\u201d set me down a different path. It systematically debunked the idea of scientific objectivity, showing how cultural ideas about sex, gender and sexuality were inseparable from the scientific findings. By the time\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/scholar.google.com\/citations?user=U3UAGGwAAAAJ&amp;hl=en&amp;oi=ao\">I earned my Ph.D.<\/a>, I began to look more holistically at my research, integrating the social, historical and political context.<\/p>\n<p>From the questions scientists begin with, to the beliefs of the people who conduct the research, to choices in research design, to interpretation of the final results, cultural ideas constantly inform \u201cthe science.\u201d What if an unbiased science is impossible?<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Emergence of idea of scientific objectivity<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Science grew to be\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/press.princeton.edu\/books\/paperback\/9781890951795\/objectivity\">synonymous with objectivity<\/a>\u00a0in the Western university system only over the past few hundred years.<\/p>\n<p>In the 15th and 16th centuries, some Europeans gained traction in challenging the religiously ordained royal order. Consolidation of the university system\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/41949874\">led to shifts<\/a>\u00a0from trust in religious leaders interpreting the word of \u201cgod,\u201d to trust in \u201cman\u201d making one\u2019s own rational decisions, to trust in scientists interpreting \u201cnature.\u201d The university system became an important site for legitimizing claims through theories and studies.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, people created knowledge about their world, but there were not strict boundaries between what are now called the humanities, such as history, English and philosophy, and the sciences, including biology, chemistry and physics. Over time, as questions arose about how to trust political decisions, people\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/589620\">split the disciplines<\/a>\u00a0into categories: subjective versus objective. The splitting came with the creation of other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.org\/details\/feminismmasteryo0000plum\">binary oppositions<\/a>, including the closely related emotionality\/rationality divide. These categories were not simply seen as opposite, but in a hierarchy with objectivity and rationality as superior.<\/p>\n<p>A closer look shows that these binary systems are arbitrary and self-reinforcing.<br \/>\n<div id=\"attachment_78154\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-78154\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-full wp-image-78154\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/objectivity-in-science-250x188.jpeg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-78154\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alternative views on the relationship between science and culture. Sara Giordano<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Science is a human endeavor<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The sciences are fields of study conducted by humans. These people, called scientists, are part of cultural systems just like everyone else. We scientists are part of families and have political viewpoints. We watch the same movies and TV shows and listen to the same music as nonscientists. We read the same newspapers, cheer for the same sports teams and enjoy the same hobbies as others.<\/p>\n<p>All of these obviously \u201ccultural\u201d parts of our lives are going to affect how scientists approach our jobs and what we consider \u201ccommon sense\u201d that does not get questioned when we do our experiments.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond individual scientists, the kinds of studies that get conducted are based on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03080188.2023.2191559\">what questions are deemed relevant<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.scienceforthepeople.org\/vol22-1\/science-as-social-struggle-review-undone-science\/\">or not<\/a>\u00a0by dominant societal norms.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in my Ph.D. work in neuroscience, I saw how different assumptions about hierarchy could influence specific experiments and even the entire field. Neuroscience focuses on what is called the central nervous system. The name itself describes a hierarchical model, with one part of the body \u201cin charge\u201d of the rest. Even within the central nervous system, there was a conceptual hierarchy with the brain controlling the spinal cord.<\/p>\n<p>My research looked more at what happened peripherally in muscles, but the predominant model had the brain at the top. The taken-for-granted\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theecologist.org\/2018\/apr\/09\/hierarchy-climate-change-and-state-nature-symbiosisrev\">idea that a system needs a boss<\/a>\u00a0mirrors\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/089124390004002002\">cultural assumptions<\/a>. But I realized we could have analyzed the system differently and asked different questions. Instead of the brain being at the top, a different model could focus on how the entire system communicates and works together at coordination.<\/p>\n<p>Every experiment also has assumptions baked in \u2013 things that are taken for granted, including definitions. Scientific experiments can become self-fulfilling prophecies.<\/p>\n<p>For example, billions of dollars have been spent on trying to delineate sex differences. However, the definition of male and female is almost never stated in these research papers. At the same time, evidence mounts that these binary categories are a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/j.1527-2001.2007.tb01156.x\">modern invention<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=GFIugrTaSmM&amp;t=680s\">not based on clear physical differences<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But the categories are tested so many times that eventually some differences are discovered without putting these results into a statistical model together. Oftentimes, so-called\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/diversedaily.com\/the-challenge-of-publishing-negative-results-advocating-for-full-disclosure-in-the-research-record\/\">negative findings<\/a>\u00a0that don\u2019t identify a significant difference are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1503\/jpn.120065\">not even reported<\/a>. Sometimes,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.britannica.com\/topic\/meta-analysis\">meta-analyses<\/a>\u00a0based on multiple studies that investigated the same question reveal these statistical errors, as in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hup.harvard.edu\/books\/9780674063518\">search for sex-related brain differences<\/a>. Similar patterns of slippery definitions that end up reinforcing taken-for-granted assumptions happen\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pmed.0040271\">with<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.racepowerofanillusion.org\/\">race<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/future\/article\/20170315-the-invention-of-heterosexuality\">sexuality<\/a>\u00a0and other socially created categories of difference.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the end results of experiments can be interpreted in many different ways, adding another point where cultural values are injected into the final scientific conclusions.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Settling on science when there\u2019s no objectivity<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Vaccines. Abortion. Climate change. Sex categories. Science is at the center of most of today\u2019s hottest political debates. While there is much disagreement, the desire to separate politics and science seems to be shared. On both sides of the political divide, there are accusations that the other side\u2019s scientists cannot be trusted because of political bias.<\/p>\n<p>Consider the recent controversy over the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s vaccine advisory panel. Secretary of Health and Human Services\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/healthcare-pharmaceuticals\/kennedys-ouster-us-vaccine-advisers-puts-pharma-ties-under-scrutiny-2025-06-12\/\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all<\/a>\u00a0members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, saying they were biased, while some\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/senate\/5426332-senate-democrats-kennedy-vaccine-firings\/\">Democratic lawmakers argued back<\/a>\u00a0that his move put in place those who would be biased in pushing his vaccine-skeptical agenda.<\/p>\n<p>If removing all bias is impossible, then, how do people create knowledge that can be trusted?<\/p>\n<p>The understanding that all knowledge is created through cultural processes does allow for two or more differing truths to coexist. You see this reality in action around many of today\u2019s most controversial subjects. However, this does not mean you must believe all truths equally \u2013 that\u2019s called total\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.simplypsychology.org\/cultural-relativism.html\">cultural relativism<\/a>. This perspective ignores the need for people to come to decisions together about truth and reality.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, critical scholars offer democratic processes for people to determine which values are important and for what purposes knowledge should be developed. For example, some of my work has focused on expanding a 1970s Dutch model of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/00497878.2019.1593840\">science shop<\/a>, where community groups come to university settings to share their concerns and needs to help determine research agendas. Other researchers have documented other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/978-3-319-14349-1_10\">collaborative practices<\/a>\u00a0between\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/magazine.scienceforthepeople.org\/vol22-2\/\">scientists and marginalized communities<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/48726172\">policy changes<\/a>, including processes for more interdisciplinary or democratic input, or both.<\/p>\n<p>I argue a more accurate view of science is that pure objectivity is impossible. Once you leave the myth of objectivity behind, though, the way forward is not simple. Instead of a belief in an all-knowing science, we are faced with the reality that humans are responsible for what is researched, how it is researched and what conclusions are drawn from such research.<\/p>\n<p>With this knowledge, we have the opportunity to intentionally set societal values that inform scientific investigations. This requires decisions about how people come to agreements about these values. These agreements need not always be universal but instead can be dependent on the context of who and what a given study might affect. While not simple, using these insights, gained over decades of studying science from both within and outside, may force a more honest conversation between political positions.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Author Bio:<\/strong> Sara Giordano is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even if you don\u2019t recall many facts from high school biology, you likely remember the cells required for making babies: egg and sperm. Maybe you can picture a swarm of sperm cells battling each other in a race to be the first to penetrate the egg. For decades, scientific literature described human conception this way, [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/scientific-objectivity-is-a-myth-cultural-values-and-beliefs-always-influence-science-and-the-people-who-do-it\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[435492],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-78152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-tech","tag-scientific-objectivity"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Scientific objectivity is a myth \u2013 cultural values and beliefs always influence science and the people who do it - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/scientific-objectivity-is-a-myth-cultural-values-and-beliefs-always-influence-science-and-the-people-who-do-it\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Scientific objectivity is a myth \u2013 cultural values and beliefs always influence science and the people who do it - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Even if you don\u2019t recall many facts from high school biology, you likely remember the cells required for making babies: egg and sperm. 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