Data is objective. Your choice of goals is the thing that is not. These two are not independent. Your statement makes it sound like data grows on trees or fall

Data is objective. Your choice of goals is the thing that is not. These two are not independent. Your statement makes it sound like data grows on trees or falls from the sky. Of course that's not so. Someone chose to collect this data rather than some other data. That choice was not objectively given – it's very much affected by "choice of goals", as well as by pre-existing beliefs and no doubt countless other all-too-human factors. Moreover, the data may be wrong, but lutusp has that one covered.