What objectivity requires is for social scientists to consciously relate their research to those values that they claim to be their own; not deceive themselves or others about the value basis of their research; ensure that their own partisan standpoint is different from those involved in the social situation they are investigating; and ensure that it is to their own basic value commitments, rather than contending interests or rival factions, that they give their partisan allegiance. In short what, for Gouldner, objectivity requires, is a certain kind of self-knowledge and a particular kind of moral courage.

Carr, W. (2000). 'Partisanship in Educational Research.' Oxford Review of Education 26(3&4): 437-449. pp. 438-9