Comparative Methodology: Theory and Practice in History (Sage Studies in International Sociology)

Social scientists are increasingly faced with the need to conduct research on an international scale. Although there is a long-established tradition of comparative research, the design and conduct of cross-national studies continues to present serious theoretical and methodological difficulties. In this book an experienced international team of researchers explores these problems and examines how they have been addressed through specific examples of comparative research.

Does comparison across national boundaries present a new set of theoretical, methodological and epistemological challenges; or is it simply a variant (however complex in practice) of other social research? How far can the findings of single-country studies be replicated and validated through cross-national research? Is there a specific comparative methodology? How do the methodological issues of comparative work cut across other debates on method? Do data already available in national and international archives offer a route towards resolving practical problems in comparative research?

Exploring these and other issues in comparative methodology, this book will be essential reading for sociologists, political scientists and others engaged in international social research.