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Comparative Research
Comparative research is a research methodology in the social sciences exemplified in cross-cultural or comparative studies 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 define categories differently (for example by using different definitions of poverty) or may not use the same categories. Definition 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.Heidenheimer, Heclo & Adams 1983: 505 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." There are certainl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Science
Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of society", established in the 18th century. It now encompasses a wide array of additional academic disciplines, including anthropology, archaeology, economics, geography, history, linguistics, management, communication studies, psychology, culturology, and political science. The majority of positivist social scientists use methods resembling those used in the natural sciences as tools for understanding societies, and so define science in its stricter modern sense. Speculative social scientists, otherwise known as interpretivist scientists, by contrast, may use social critique or symbolic interpretation rather than constructing empirically falsifiable theories, and thus treat science in its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analytic Frame
Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 BC), though ''analysis'' as a formal concept is a relatively recent development. The word comes from the Ancient Greek (''analysis'', "a breaking-up" or "an untying" from ''ana-'' "up, throughout" and ''lysis'' "a loosening"). From it also comes the word's plural, ''analyses''. As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to René Descartes (''Discourse on the Method''), and Galileo Galilei. It has also been ascribed to Isaac Newton, in the form of a practical method of physical discovery (which he did not name). The converse of analysis is synthesis: putting the pieces back together again in a new or different whole. Science and technology Chemistry The field of chemistry uses analysis in three ways: to iden ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sociological Imagination
Sociological imagination is a term used in the field of sociology to describe a framework for understanding social reality that places personal experiences within a broader social and historical context. It was coined by American sociologist C. Wright Mills in his 1959 book '' The Sociological Imagination'' to describe the type of insight offered by the discipline of sociology. Today, the term is used in many sociology textbooks to explain the nature of sociology and its relevance in daily life. Definitions In '' The Sociological Imagination'', Mills attempts to reconcile two different and abstract concepts of social reality: the "individual" and the "society." Accordingly, Mills defined ''sociological imagination'' as "the awareness of the relationship between personal experience and the wider society." In exercising one's sociological imagination, one seeks to understand situations in one's life by looking at situations in broader society. For example, a single student who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Research
Social research is research conducted by social scientists following a systematic plan. Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. * Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on statistical analyses of many cases (or across intentionally designed treatments in an experiment) to create valid and reliable general claims. * Qualitative designs emphasize understanding of social phenomena through direct observation, communication with participants, or analyses of texts, and may stress contextual subjective accuracy over generality. Most methods contain elements of both. For example, qualitative data analysis often involves a fairly structured approach to coding raw data into systematic information and quantifying intercoder reliability. There is often a more complex relationship between "qualitative" and "quantitative" approaches than would be suggested by drawing a simple distinction bet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Comparative Surveys
Below is a list of comparative social surveys. Survey methodology aims to measure general patterns among a population through statistical Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of data. In applying statistics to a s ... methods. Comparative research "seeks to compare and contrast nations, cultures, societies, and institutions.", usually defined as comparing at least two different societies or nations. References {{Reflist Survey methodology Surveys (human research) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative Sociology
Comparative sociology involves comparison of the social processes between nation states, or across different types of society (for example capitalism, capitalist and socialist). There are two main approaches to comparative sociology: some seek similarity across different countries and cultures whereas others seek variance. For example, structural Marxists have attempted to use comparative methods to discover the general processes that underlie apparently different social orderings in different societies. The danger of this approach is that the different social contexts are overlooked in the search for supposed universal structures. One sociologist who employed comparative methods to understand variance was Max Weber, whose studies attempted to show how differences between cultures explained the different social orderings that had emerged (see for example ''The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism'' and Sociology of religion). There is some debate within sociology regar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative Mythology
Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different cultures, and to support various psychoanalytical theories. The comparative study of mythologies reveals the trans-national motifs that unify spiritual understanding globally. The significance of this study generates a "broad, sympathetic understanding of these 'stories' in human history". The similarities of myths remind humanity of the universality in the human experience. Background Anthropologist C. Scott Littleton defined comparative mythology as "the systematic comparison of myths and mythic themes drawn from a wide variety of cultures". By comparing different cultures' mythologies, scho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative Method
In linguistics, the comparative method is a technique for studying the development of languages by performing a feature-by-feature comparison of two or more languages with common descent from a shared ancestor and then extrapolating backwards to infer the properties of that ancestor. The comparative method may be contrasted with the method of internal reconstruction in which the internal development of a single language is inferred by the analysis of features within that language. Ordinarily, both methods are used together to reconstruct prehistoric phases of languages; to fill in gaps in the historical record of a language; to discover the development of phonological, morphological and other linguistic systems and to confirm or to refute hypothesised relationships between languages. The comparative method emerged in the early 19th century with the birth of Indo-European studies, then took a definite scientific approach with the works of the Neogrammarians in the late 19th� ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative History
Comparative history is the comparison of different societies which existed during the same time period or shared similar cultural conditions. The comparative history of societies emerged as an important specialty among intellectuals in the Enlightenment in the 18th century, as typified by Montesquieu, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and others. Sociologists and economists in the 19th century often explored comparative history, as exemplified by Alexis de Tocqueville, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. In the first half of the 20th century, a large reading public followed the comparative histories of (German) Oswald Spengler, (Russian-American) Pitirim Sorokin, and (British) Arnold J. Toynbee. Since the 1950s, however, comparative history has faded from the public view, and is now the domain of specialized scholars working independently. Besides the people mentioned above, recent exemplars of comparative history include American historians Herbert E. Bolton and Carroll Quigley, and British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comparative Cultural Studies
Comparative cultural studies is a contextual approach to the study of culture in a global and intercultural context. Focus is placed on the theory, method, and application of the study process(es) rather than on the "what" of the object(s) of study. Overview In comparative cultural studies, selected tenets of comparative literature are merged with selected tenets of the field of cultural studies (including culture theories, (radical) constructivism, communication theories, and systems theories) with the objective to study culture and culture products (including but not restricted to literature, communication, media, art, etc.). This is performed in a contextual and relational construction and with a plurality of methods and approaches, interdisciplinary, and, if and when required, including teamwork. In comparative cultural studies, it is the processes of communicative action(s) in culture and the how of these processes that constitute the main objectives of research and study. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Information Technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Information technology is an application of computer science and computer engineering. The term is commonly used as a synonym for computers and computer networks, but it also encompasses other information distribution technologies such as television and telephones. Several products or services within an economy are associated with information technology, including computer hardware, software, electronics, semiconductors, internet, Telecommunications equipment, telecom equipment, and e-commerce.. An information technology system (IT system) is generally an information system, a communications system, or, more specifically speaking, a Computer, computer system — including all Computer hardware, hardware, software, and peripheral equipment � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross-cultural Studies
Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences such as sociology, psychology, economics, political science that uses field data from many societies through comparative research to examine the scope of human behavior and test hypotheses about human behavior and culture. Cross-cultural studies is the third form of cross-cultural comparisons. The first is comparison of case studies, the second is controlled comparison among variants of a common derivation, and the third is comparison within a sample of cases. Unlike comparative studies, which examines similar characteristics of a few societies, cross-cultural studies uses a sufficiently large sample so that statistical analysis can be made to show relationships or lack of relationships between the traits in question. These studies are surveys of ethnographic data, or involve qualitative data collection. Cross-cultural studies are applie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
