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Comparative Research: Development of The Tradition

Comparative research is a methodology used in the social sciences that aims to compare data across different countries or cultures. A challenge is that data sets may use different categories or definitions, like varying definitions of poverty. Comparative research has a long tradition dating back to ancient Greece, where philosophers questioned their own traditions and studied other cultures. It grew in popularity after World War II due to factors like globalization and new technologies enabling easier cross-cultural data collection and sharing. Comparative research involves comparing two or more things to discover something about them, often using a multidisciplinary approach, though quantitative analysis is more common than qualitative.

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18 views

Comparative Research: Development of The Tradition

Comparative research is a methodology used in the social sciences that aims to compare data across different countries or cultures. A challenge is that data sets may use different categories or definitions, like varying definitions of poverty. Comparative research has a long tradition dating back to ancient Greece, where philosophers questioned their own traditions and studied other cultures. It grew in popularity after World War II due to factors like globalization and new technologies enabling easier cross-cultural data collection and sharing. Comparative research involves comparing two or more things to discover something about them, often using a multidisciplinary approach, though quantitative analysis is more common than qualitative.

Uploaded by

Gary M Trajano
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Comparative research

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Comparative research is a research methodology in the social sciences that aims to make
comparisons across different countries or cultures. A major problem in comparative research is that
the data sets in different countries may not use the same categories, or define categories differently
(for example by using different definitions of poverty).

Contents
[hide]

1Development of the tradition


2Comparative research defined
3See also
4Notes
5References

Development of the tradition[edit]


As Moutsios argues, cross-cultural and comparative research should be seen as part of the scientific
spirit that arose in Greece in the 6th century and the overall appreciation of knowledge and learning
that was characteristic of the 5th century. In other words, it is part of the emergence
of episteme and philo-sophia, as a love for knowledge that is independent from material
benefits. Episteme, as a form and activity in the field of logos, marked the break of cognitive closure
and advanced empirical inquiry, logical argumentation and the search for truth. And the high esteem
for intellectual activity gave rise to a genuine curiosity about other cultures which has lain
thereafter at the heart of comparative inquiry.[1]
Moreover, behind the Greek comparative gaze also was the philosophical and political questioning
which characterised the life of the democratic polis. Philosophical inquiry, from the Milesians down to
the Sophists, questioned the representations and the cognitive traditions of their own people; the
inquiry of the traditions of other peoples was, as Herodotus Histories demonstrate, an activity
associated with the ethos of philosophical critique that characterised democratic life in Greece.
Similarly, questioning of the Greek laws and institutions and its related values and practices
(e.g. isegoria and parrhesia), as part of Greek politics, is associated with the effort of the first
historians to reflect on home institutions through researching those of others.[2]

According also to Karl Deutsch, we have been using this form of investigation for over 2,000 years.
Comparing things is essential to basic scientific and philosophic inquiry, which has been done for a
long time.[3] Most authors are more conservative in their estimate of how long comparative research
has been with us. It is largely an empty debate over the definition of the tradition with those
questioning whether comparing things counts as comparative research.
Textbooks on this form of study were beginning to appear by the 1880s, but its rise to extreme
popularity began after World War II.[4][5] There are numerous reasons that comparative research has
come to take a place of honour in the toolbox of the social scientist. Globalization has been a major
factor, increasing the desire and possibility for educational exchanges and intellectual curiosity about
other cultures. Information technology has enabled greater production of quantitative data for
comparison, and international communications technology has facilitated this information to be easily
spread.[6]

Comparative research defined[edit]


Comparative research, simply put, is the act of comparing two or more things with a view to
discovering something about one or all of the things being compared. This technique often utilizes
multiple disciplines in one study. When it comes to method, the majority agreement is that there is
no methodology peculiar to comparative research.[7] The multidisciplinary approach is good for the
flexibility it offers, yet comparative programs do have a case to answer against the call that their
research lacks a "seamless whole."[8]
There are certainly methods that are far more common than others in comparative studies, however.
Quantitative analysis is much more frequently pursued than qualitative, and this is seen by the
majority of comparative studies which use quantitative data.[9][3][10][4] The general method of comparing
things is the same for comparative research as it is in our everyday practice of comparison. Like
cases are treated alike, and different cases are treated differently; the extent of difference
determines how differently cases are to be treated. If one is able to sufficiently distinguish two carry
the research conclusions will not be very helpful.[11]

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