- Cross-national research
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In social science disciplines such as sociology, political science, geography, and economics, cross-national research is the technique of analyzing an event or process that takes place within a country, while comparing the way that event or process takes place across many different countries. Cross-national research may be qualitative, as in Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions. Alternatively, it may be quantitative, as in Seymour Martin Lipset's research on modernization theory.
Cross-national research is a subject of debate. Some scholars object because this kind of research involves comparing dissimilar countries and cultures, while others argue that cross-national quantitative analysis requires unrealistic assumptions. Others defend the research practice, arguing that it may be problematic but it provides a tool for answering questions that would otherwise be unanswerable.
References
- McIntyre, A. (1973) Is a Science of Comparative Politics Possible? In "The Philosophy of Social Explanation" Ed. Alan Ryan. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Bartolini, S. (1990) "The Political Mobilization of the European Left, 1860-1980: The Class Cleavage" Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 35-53
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