Abstract

VALDES VEGA, María Eugenia. The Subject-Object Relationship in Empirical Research on Politics. Polis [online]. 2006, vol.2, n.1, pp.43-73. ISSN 2594-0686.

The aim of this work is to discuss how the researcher’s subjectivity influences the analysis of his objects of study, one of the most important methodological problems for those who research into political reality. The author’s considerations about the issue are shown throughout the article, in which she describes and analyses the postulates by Ernst Nagel about this problem as well as those made by Jürgen Habermas, who claims for a special position for the social sciences as opposed to the natural sciences; afterwards, the proper objects of study in politics are exposed. The final paragraphs offer a practical guide about this issue, which has been used by many years in the courses on methodology delivered by the author to help the students to develop their research projects.

Keywords : Objectivity; Subjectivity; Social Sciences.