Objectivity: A Subject of Discourse in Historical Writing

Abstract

One of the problems confronting historians in historical writing is the question of objectivity. Objectivity holds that any historical writing should be based on solid facts, devoid of sentiments, biases and prejudice irrespective of tribes, gender, race, sex, and nation. It is simply referred to as “respect for the truth”. It also means the dissociation of investigators from object or subject of investigation so that the same conclusion could be reached on the subject matter. It should be noted that the challenges of objectivity have continued to be the question, which is usually raised among scholars and students of history whenever the nature of history is been discussed. Therefore, this paper aims at examining the nature of history and problems of
objectivity in historical research.