Significant differences. The construction of knowledge, objectivity, and dominance
Document Type
Article
Date of Original Version
1-1-1995
Abstract
The scientific method is a tool for the construction and justification of dominance in the world. The invention of statistics was a major methodological advance in the descriptive sciences causing a shift from descriptive analysis to mathematical analysis. The new methodological techniques were invented by men who were interested in explaining the inheritance of traits in order to support their political ideology of natural human superiority and inferiority. The statistical techniques transformed the scientific method and resulted in a process that constructs knowledge and establishes "significant differences" between the dominant group as the norm and the subordinate group as the "Other." The five steps in the process that integrates domination into the scientific method and results in the scientific construction the Other are: (a) Naming, (b) Quantification, (c) Statistical Analysis, (d) Reification, and (e) Objectification. © 1995.
Publication Title, e.g., Journal
Women's Studies International Forum
Volume
18
Issue
4
Citation/Publisher Attribution
Hughes, Donna M.. "Significant differences. The construction of knowledge, objectivity, and dominance." Women's Studies International Forum 18, 4 (1995): 395-406. doi: 10.1016/0277-5395(95)80031-J.