Comparative research

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).

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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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