COMPARATIVE METHOD IN

SOCIOLOGY

-
 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To discuss the Comparative method of research and
its importance in the field of Sociology

 To understand the potential of this research method.

 To discuss the Cross-sectional method of study and

the longitudinal method of study.
 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Q.1) Explain the Comparative method of research and its

importance.
Q.2) What are the potentials of this method of research ?
Q.3) What are the problems faced by the sociologists on
this method of research?
Q.4) Discuss the Cross-sectional method of study and the
longitudinal method of study.
Q.5) What is the importance of these methods?
Q.6) What are the advantages and disadvantages on this
method of study?
 INTRODUCTION
 Research is an attempt to know new things,
facts, information etc. in a scientific manner.
 L.V Redman and A.V.H Mory have stated
“systematised effort to gain knowledge we call
re-search.”
 The main function of research is to collect new
facts, information etc and to establish new
theories on the basis of these facts.
 SOCIOLOGICAL
RESEARCH

 Research has become the central point in sociology

 According to Pauline V. Young “...sociological

research is a systematic method of exploring
,analysing and conceptualising social life in order
to extend ,correct ,or verify knowledge, whether
that knowledge aids on construction of a theory or
in practice of an art.”
 COMPARATIVE METHOD OF
RESEARCH
 The Comparative method refers to “the method of
comparing different societies or groups within
the same society to show whether and why they
are similar or different in certain respects.”
  The comparisons drawn by this method of
research from the similarities and the differences
found in the ways of the life of people of
different societies gives the clues of one’s social
behaviour.
 Sociologist and social investigators like Comte,
Durkheim, Taylor, Weber, Wheeler, Ginsberg, S.F.
Nadal, G.P. Murdock and others have not only used
this method but also made it popular.
 This method was used by the philologists to study
different language in the 18th Century.

 In the 19th Century, this method was used by the

sociologist to trace the common origins of different
social institutions by drawing comparisons on the
basis of the similarities and the differences between
them. Montesquieu and Comte used and recommended
this method to establish and to explain both the
differences and similarities between the societies in
the 19th Century.
 Emile Durkheim his work “Division of Labour
in Society” compared the legal systems at the
same time and at different levels of development.
In this he used law as an index of the moral
character of society. By comparison “he tested
his hypothesis that an increase in the division of
labour is accompanied by a change in the nature
of social integration or solidarity.”
 Taylor used this method in the study of
institutions connected with the family among
primitive people and was able to show that
practices of mother-in-law avoidance was co-
related with the systems of matrilocal residence.

 Through this method, one can explain the

significance of a custom or practice, though it
varies from one society to another, by studying
the motives behind it.
 SIGNIFICANCE
 Emile Durkheim set out clearly the significance of the
Comparative method in his “The Rules of Sociological
Method”. According to him, the ‘sociological
explanation consists entirely in the establishment of
casual connections.’ In the case of natural sciences, the
casual connections could be more easily established
because of facility of experiment. Since such direct
experiments are out of question in sociology, we are
compelled to use the method of indirect experiment,
i.e., comparative method-says Durkheim.
 He also said that ‘in the absence of experimental
method comparative method is the only method
available to the sociological disciplines.’
 This method of research is important as it helps
to trace the common origins of different social
institutions by drawing comparisons on the basis
of the similarities and the differences between
them.
 The comparative method of research is also
significant as it helps to explain the importance
of a custom or practice, though it varies from one
society to another, by studying the motives by
them
 This method of research also helps in understanding
and explaining the ways in which different societies
and cultural experiences and act upon social, economic
and political changes, plus how these views relate to
more general changes and thus shared experiences and
actions in the face of similar concerns and pressures
that in result enables to shape and act upon the future
 POTENTIAL
 The potential for the theoretical development is a
strong component of comparative research.

 This also allows us to reflect upon our social

systems and cultural ways of behaving.
 PROBLEMS
 One of the primary problems with comparative
analysis is not only the ability of researchers to
understand adequately cultures and societies
which are different from their own, but more
specifically, to generalise and explain the social
relations across the societies and social contexts.
 The problem of language, the high costs of
comparative survey and observational research
are the many problems of the researchers
 CROSS-SECTIONAL
METHOD OF STUDY
 A study which covers a broad area of observation at a
single point of time is called Cross-sectional study.
 For example, Campbell, Converse, and Rodger’s
study, The Quality of American Life (1976), reports
interviews with a national sample of 2,700
households, inquiring as to their satisfactions and
dissatisfactions. They found that married people are
happier than single people, that prosperous people
are happier than poor people, and made many other
interesting observations
 The national public opinion polls are cross-
sectional studies.
 A cross-sectional study may show differences
between age groups, and this is often considered
as an evidence of changing attitude and
behaviour. For instances, studies have shown that
young people are more lenient than older people
about sex behaviour and drug use.
 IMPORTANCE

 The purposes of this method is to assess the role

of cultural in shaping outcomes.

 The cross-sectional research is important as it

helps in collecting the data of many different
kinds of people in a relatively short period of
time.
 ADVANTAGES
 The advantages are that this method of research
is good for exploratory research.
 This method of research also helps in generating
good hypothesis for the research.
 This method helps to collect data from large
number of subjects at a shorter period of time.
 DISADVANTAGES

 The disadvantages are that there is an increased

chance of error in this method of study
 This method of study is static and time bound
and cannot measure change.
 Cross-sectional method of study is costly as it
collects information from large number of
subjects with each different location. It also has
no control over any independent variable.
 LONGITUDINAL METHOD
OF STUDY
 If the study extends over time, describing a trend
or making a series of before-and-after
observations, it is called Longitudinal study.
 For instances, Levine and Meyer (1977) studied
changes in black and white enrolment in Kansas
City public schools between 1960 and 1974.
 A retrospective study  On other hand, a
works backward in time,
using data that are
already recorded. For
example, Wynder and
Evarts [1950] used
hospital records of 605
lung cancer victims and
found that all but eight
were cigarette smokers.
prospective study begins
with the present and
carries observations
forward over a period of
time. Thus, Dorn [1959]
and Kahn [1966]
followed the health
history of 200,000
veterans for eleven years,
finding that the pack-a-
day-or-more smokers
were sixteen times as
likely to die from lung
cancer as were non
smokers
 IMPORTANCE
 Longitudinal method of research is important as
this study offers unique insight into process,
change and continuity over time in phenomena
ranging from individuals, families and
institutions to societies.

 Longitudinal method tells us what has happened

to a set of research cases over a longer period of
time
 ADVANTAGES
 The advantage of this method is that the data used in
this method is easy to collect and represent in graphs
 Another advantage is that the data collected is very
easy to interpret.
 This method of study tells us about what has
happened to a set of research cases over a longer
period of time.
 DISADVANTAGES
 The disadvantage of this method is that the data
collection may change over time.
 It is also difficult to show more variable at a time.
 The disadvantage of this method is that the data
collection may change over time. It is also
difficult to show more variable at a time. This
method of study assumes that the present trends
will continue unchanged.
 CONCLUSION
 It is seen that in spite of deficiencies, the Comparative
method is used widely in sociological studies.

 Because, as Durkheim said in the absence of

experimental method comparative method of study is the
only method available to the Sociological disciplines.
 The progression of a research helps to determine which
method of study is appropriate for a researcher in his
project.
 Cross-sectional studies can be done more quickly than
longitudinal studies
 That’s why a researcher might start with a cross-
sectional study to first establish whether there are
links or associations between certain variables.
Then they would set up a longitudinal study to
study cause and effect.
 BIBILOGRAPHY
 Horton Paul B. And Hunt Chester, Sociology (6th
Edition, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company
Limited, New Delhi, 2004)
 Rao C.N. Shankar, Sociology: Principles Of Sociology
With An Introduction To Social Thought (7th Edition, S.
Chand & Company Ltd., New Delhi, 2012 )
 May Tim, Social Research: Issues, methods and
process (3rd Edition, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2001)
 Alasuutari Pertti, Bickman Leonard, Brannen Julia,
The Sage Handbook of Social Research Methods (1st
Edition, Sage Publications India Pvt Ltd., New Delhi,
2008)