IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jothpo/v5y1993i2p131-167.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On Time and Comparative Research

Author

Listed:
  • Stefano Bartolini

Abstract

The essay argues why the comparative method has been amply debated in reference to cross-cultural synchronic research, while less attention has been devoted to the problems of its application to temporal variance. Three central method-issues are discussed: (1) the definition of `temporal units' of analysis; (2) the special character of cross-time generalizations versus cross-spatial ones; and (3) the problem of historical multi-collinearity. The core arguments are that: (1) the search for a specific `historical method' is vitiated by the confusion between the peculiarity of historical `rules of method' - which cannot be identified - and the peculiarity of `cross-time variance' - which, on the contrary, is so momentous; (2) in controlling the validity of causal generalizations, resorting to temporal variance only presents methodological pitfalls not inferior to those stemming from the resort to the sole spatial synchronic variance; (3) consequently, control-maximization is best achieved by research designs which combine both types of variance and permit `slides of synchronic comparisons through time'.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefano Bartolini, 1993. "On Time and Comparative Research," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 5(2), pages 131-167, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:5:y:1993:i:2:p:131-167
    DOI: 10.1177/0951692893005002001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0951692893005002001
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0951692893005002001?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Deutsch, Karl W., 1961. "Social Mobilization and Political Development," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(3), pages 493-514, September.
    2. Sartori, Giovanni, 1970. "Concept Misformation in Comparative Politics," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(4), pages 1033-1053, December.
    3. Rostow,W. W., 1971. "Politics and the Stages of Growth," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521096539, October.
    4. Klingman, David, 1980. "Temporal and Spatial Diffusion in the Comparative Analysis of Social Change," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(1), pages 123-137, March.
    5. Lijphart, Arend, 1971. "Comparative Politics and the Comparative Method," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 65(3), pages 682-693, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Levi-Faur, David, 2003. "Comparative Research Designs in the Study of Regulation: How to Increase the Number of Cases Without Compromising the Strengths of Case-Oriented Analysis," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30695, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    2. Juliette Rouchier & Claudio Cioffi-Revilla & J. Gareth Polhill & Keiki Takadama, 2008. "Progress in Model-To-Model Analysis," Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation, vol. 11(2), pages 1-8.
    3. Jørgen Møller, 2017. "A framework for congruence analysis in comparative historical analysis of political change," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 51(5), pages 2337-2355, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mathieu Rousselin, 2012. "The EU as a Multilateral Rule Exporter - The Global Transfer of European Rules via International Organizations," KFG Working Papers p0048, Free University Berlin.
    2. Louise Tillin, 2013. "National and Subnational Comparative Politics: Why, What and How," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 1(2), pages 235-240, December.
    3. Suraj Jacob, 2015. "Towards a Comparative Subnational Perspective on India," Studies in Indian Politics, , vol. 3(2), pages 229-246, December.
    4. Rachel M. Gisselquist & Miguel Niño-Zarazúa & Melissa Samarin, 2021. "Does aid support democracy?: A systematic review of the literature," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Rosemary H. T. O'Kane, 1993. "The Ladder of Abstraction," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 5(2), pages 169-193, April.
    6. Einig, Klaus, 2011. "Vergleichende Institutionenanalyse der Planzeichen zur Infrastruktur in Regionalplänen," Forschungs- und Sitzungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Tietz, Hans-Peter & Hühner, Tanja (ed.), Zukunftsfähige Infrastruktur und Raumentwicklung: Handlungserfordernisse für Ver- und Entsorgungssysteme, volume 127, pages 117-141, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    7. Gustav Lidén, 2013. "What about theory? The consequences on a widened perspective of social theory," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 213-225, January.
    8. Sandra Fachelli & Pedro López-Roldán, 2021. "Comparative Perspectives on Social Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 154(3), pages 755-765, April.
    9. Prokic-Breuer, Tijana, 2011. "The relative importance of social and cultural capital for educational performance: Eastern versus Western Europe," Discussion Papers, Research Professorship Demographic Development, Social Change, and Social Capital SP I 2011-403, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    10. Matthijs Bogaards, 2000. "The Uneasy Relationship between Empirical and Normative Types in Consociational Theory," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 12(4), pages 395-423, October.
    11. Octavia MOISE, 2017. "Nato-Eu Partnership: Fostering Resilience For A Cooperative Security Space," EURINT, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 4, pages 131-148.
    12. Sylke Nissen, 1998. "The Case of Case Studies: On the Methodological Discussion in Comparative Political Science," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 399-418, November.
    13. Giovanni Sartori, 1991. "Comparing and Miscomparing," Journal of Theoretical Politics, , vol. 3(3), pages 243-257, July.
    14. Johannes W. Fedderke & John M. Luiz, 2005. "Does Human Generate Social and Institutional Capital? Exploring Evidence From Time Series Data in a Middle Income Country," Working Papers 029, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    15. Xinyu Zhang & Yue Liao, 2023. "A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of Populism Research (2000–2020)," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    16. Oppermann, Daniel, 2021. "Corona protests in Germany: insights into a new movement," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, pages 25-40.
    17. Petteri Repo & Kaisa Matschoss, 2019. "Social Innovation for Sustainability Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
    18. Jennifer Robinson, 2011. "Cities in a World of Cities: The Comparative Gesture," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 1-23, January.
    19. Gisselquist, Rachel M., 2020. "How the cases you choose affect the answers you get, revisited," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    20. Jeff Alstott & Stuart Madnick & Chander Velu, 2014. "Homophily and the Speed of Social Mobilization: The Effect of Acquired and Ascribed Traits," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(4), pages 1-9, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jothpo:v:5:y:1993:i:2:p:131-167. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.