Comparative Social Inequality Comparative method

Hypotheses Hypothesis is a statement, stipulated within a given theory, about the relationship between variables (constructs) defined on some objects (units of observation) within causal framework (time and sequencing). In comparative sociology hypotheses deal with space and/or time. Cross-national studies involve, explicitly or implicitly, nations (states, countries, societies) as units of observation and at least one variable is defined on the national (country, society) level. In historical studies the same units of observations are compared through time.

Coparative studies Comparative methods refer specifically to the methodology of comparing “something” through space and/or time. Generally, comparative methods for cross-national research and historical research do not differ very much. Clarification: Most sociology is within-country, present-time sociology. Comparative methods are specific (and distinguishable) from “other methods” that they refer to cross-national and/or historical studies.

Traditions Marx, Weber, Durkheim. Karl Marx ( ) and his work (Capital, 1883) on evolutionary processes of economic systems (cross-national and historical) Max Weber ( ) and his work on The Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism, 1905, (historical and cross-national) Emile Durkheim ( ) and his Suicide, 1897, as an example of quantitative studies on nations' characteristics. In his Rules of Sociological Methods, 1985, Durkheim insists that comparative sociology is not a particular branch of sociology; it is sociology itself.

Paradigmatic approach The concept of a paradigm. Thomas Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolution (1962) “A paradigm is a fundamental image of the subject matter within a science. It serves to define what should be studied, what questions should be asked, how they should be asked, and what rules should be followed in interpreting the answers obtained.” (Ritzer, Sociology: A Multiple Paradigm Science, 1980: 7)

Paradigmatic approach The intellectual and social structure of comparative sociology. Is there a specific substance and a specific method of comparative sociology? A pragmatic view: Comparative sociology is what comparative sociologists do. Their activity can be defined by: (1) Scientific research/training – Research/Training Programs (2) Scientific production – articles in Journals (3) Scientific personal communication – activity in Associations

Research/Training Programs European institutions with focus on comparative studies in sociology: Central European University (Budapest) European University Institute (Florence) - and all leading universities but Oxford and Essex in particular US institutions - departments of sociology -with comparative specialization at the PhD-level: Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Chicago, Penn State, Princeton, UCLA, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, The Ohio State University.

Journals In addition to ASR, AJS, SF, and Sociology, the following journals are devoted to cross-national and/or historical comparative research: Comparative Sociology Cross-Cultural Research: The Journal of Comparative Social Science Comparative Studies in Society and History International Sociology International Journal of Sociology International Journal of Public Opinion Research

Associations International Sociological Asociation – Research Committee on Comparative Sociology, and two other sections:. Reseach Committee on Social Stratification. Research Committee on Methodology In addition: International Institute of Sociology Society for Cross-Cultural Research

Nations, States, Countries, Societies To understand comparative sociology, we start with cross-national research. In particular, we ask: What are the units of observation in this kind of research? Nations? States? Countries? Societies? Nation : common ethnic originethnic common language common culture common religion common self-identification

Nations, States, Countries, Societies The word state has both an empirical (de facto) and a juridical (de jure) sense. De facto, an entity is a state if there is an organization on a specific territory that has a monopoly on legitimate violence over this territory, defending the social order externally and internally. De jure, an entity is a state, if it is recognized as such by other states through their representation. State: territory with internationally recognize boundaries; sovereignty: no other state has power over the country's territory; a government which (a) provides police and army power, (b) regulates foreign and domestic trade, and (c) issues money; external recognition: a country has been "voted into the club” by other countries.

Nations, States, Countries, Societies Country. Commonly, the term is used casually in the sense of both nation (a cultural entity?) and state (a political entity?) In terms of political geography the world is diviaded into independent states and “other teritiories”: dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. Presently, there are 192 countries as independent states, members of the UN, and 65 countries that are called dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. In practice, cross-national research means cross- country research, restricted to subset of independent states.

Nations, States, Countries, Societies Society. Robert E. Marsh, Comparative Sociology, defines society as a plurality of interacting individuals that has the following four characteristics: - definite territory - sexual reproduction - comprehensive culture - political independence What is the universe of societies through space and time? About 5,000 units, from ca. 100 people of primitive hunting bands to over 1.3 billion people of contemporary China. George Murdock, World Ethnographic Sample (1957): 522 independent societies.