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Historical-Comparative Research (歷史比較研究 )

Social Research Methods

Spring 2007

May 2~7, 2007

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Historical-Comparative (H-C) Research

• To explain major societal processes (解釋主要的社會變遷過程 )

• Sometimes difficult to understand H-C research

• More in basic research

• Founders of Sociology used H-C approach

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Research Questions Appropriate for H-C Research

• Powerful in addressing big questions (適合回答大問題 )

• Examine the combinations of social factors producing a specific outcome (檢視一些社會因素如何造成特殊的結果 )

• Compare social systems across societies(比較不同社會體系 )

• Study long-tem societal changes (研究長期的社會變遷 )

• Strengthen conceptualization and theory building (加強概念化及理論建構 )

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The logic of H-C Research

注意 : 研究者可運用實證、量化或質性、詮釋方法來研究歷史或比較的問題

• H-C vs. Quantitative Research – One nation or a small set of nations or many nations?– A single time period in the past? Events across many

years? The present or a recent time period?– Primarily on quantitative or qualitative data?

• try to identify universal or near-universal processes (希望發現普世適用的社會過程 )

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The logic of H-C and Interpretive Research

• Focuses on culture, see through the eyes of those being studied, reconstructs the lives of the people studied (歷史比較—詮釋研究 : 焦點在文化，重新建構被研究者的生活 )

• Often being criticized for its small number of cases (常被批評其個案較少 )

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A distinct H-C Approach

• Combines a sensitivity to specific historical or cultural contexts with theoretical generalization (結合理論概化與對特殊歷史與文化脈絡的敏感 )

• May use quantitative data to supplement qualitative data and analysis

• Logic and goals of H-C closer to those of field research

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Similarities of H-C to Field Research• A researcher’s point of view is an unavoidable p

art of research (研究者的觀點是研究中不能避免的 )

• Examine a great diversity of data (檢視大量資料 )

• Often use grounded theory; theory emerging during data collection (經常使用紮根理論，理論是在資料蒐集中浮現 )

• Translate a meaning system (詮釋 /翻譯某種意義體系 )

• Focus on action, process, and sequence; social reality created and changed by people (焦點在行動、過程順序，社會現實由人類創造及改變 )

• Limited generalization depending on context (概化及理論受到脈絡的限制 )

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Unique Features of H-C Research• Limited and indirect evidence (有限、間接的證據 ): r

econstructs from fragments and incomplete evidence• Reconstruction of the past or another culture easily di

storted (重新建構過去或其他文化時，容易被扭曲，現在的知識或時代變遷會曲解對過去人事物的理解 )

• Study the consciousness of people in a context and uses their motives as causal factors (研讀人們的意念及其動機，因為這些可能為因果關係的解釋原因 )

• Cause as contingent on conditions, causality of combination of elements (原因受限於一些條件，複合的解釋 )

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Unique Features of H-C Research

• Integrates the micro and macro levels (研究整個個案，將微觀與鉅觀層次結合 )

• Moves between concrete specifics in a context and across contexts for more abstract comparisons (檢視特定脈絡，比較不同脈絡，並加以概化，提出較抽象的解釋 )

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Steps in a H-C Research Project• Conceptualizing the object of inquiry

– become familiar with the setting or era

• Locating evidence– Need extensive bibliographic work

• Evaluating quality of evidence– Relevance and accuracy & strength of the evidence (相關性及正確性 )

• Organizing evidence (資料與理論的互動 )• Synthesizing (綜合證據 : 將特定證據與抽象的因果解釋結合 )– Refining concepts and moving toward a general explanatory mo

del, organizing and giving new meaning to evidence

• Writing a report (報告撰寫是重要關鍵 )

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Data and Evidence in Historical Context (歷史脈絡中的資料與證據 )

• Types of historical evidence– Primary sources (原始、初級資料 ): letters, di

aries, newspapers, etc of those who lived in the past

– Secondary sources (次級、二手資料 ): the writings of specialist historians

– Running records (持續進行的記錄 ): files of existing statistical documents maintained by organizations

– Recollections: statements or writings of individuals about their past lives or experiences based on memory (過去生活經驗記憶的記錄，例如 : 口述歷史 )

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Data and Evidence in Historical Context

• Research with secondary sources– No clear rules and procedures in using secondary sou

rces (使用二手資料沒有清楚的規則或程序 )– Inaccurate historical accounts and a lack of studies in

areas of interest (留意不正確的歷史記載，有時某個領域乏人研究 )

– Potential problems: historians’ work not theory-free and objective; a historian’s selection procedure not transparent; narrative history; a historian influenced by personal beliefs, social theories, and current events (史學家呈現出來的並不是理論中立、客觀的事實；史學家的選擇程序並不透明；敘事歷史的寫作方式；史學家受個人信念、社會理論及時事的影響 )

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Data and Evidence in Historical Context

• Research with Primary Sources—NOTE: only a fraction of everything written or used in the past has survived (只有一小部份的過去留下來而已 )– Read as someone who lived in the past; hold back jud

gment (用過去的眼光來閱讀，先不要用現有價值判斷 )

– Time-consuming to locate primary documents– External and internal criticism (外在鑑定 : 文件的真實性；內在鑑定 : 文件內容的解釋， p. 436)

• Nonsource-based knowledge (不可考的資料 ): based on logical reasoning

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Comparative Research (比較研究 )

• More of a perspective or orientation than a separate research technique (是一種研究取向或看法 )

• Focus: similarities and differences between units (個案或單元之間的相似或相異處 )

• Reveals aspects of social life general across units

• Improves measurement and conceptualization, • eliminate or offer alternative explanations for cau

sal relationships

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Comparative Research

• More difficult, more costly, and more time consuming

• Rarely use random sampling• Apply, not test theory, and make limited generali

zations• Four types: case-study comparative research

(個案比較研究 ), cultural-context research (文化脈絡研究 : 研究代表某些社會或單位的個案 ), cross-national research, and transnational research ( 跨國及多國研究 )

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Comparative Research

• The units being compared: culture vs. the nation-state (文化–較難界定 vs. 國家 )

• Galton’s Problem: the units are subparts of larger units (單位的特質來自較大單位的一部份，而非來自單位的特質。當不同單位的兩個變數有同一來源時，而不是完全不同的時候，此問題即會產生。 )

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Data in Cross-Cultural Research

• Comparative field research• Existing sources of qualitative data

– HRAF, Ethnographic Atlas– Be aware of limitations and problems

• Cross-national survey research– In-depth knowledge about another culture– Careful choices of cultures/nations– Problems: sensitive topics, patterns and styles of com

munication, the courtesy bias ( 禮貌上的偏誤 ), access

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Data in Cross-Cultural Research

• Cross-national survey research—survey questionnaires and multiple languages– Simply translate one questionnaire into another langu

age not enough (只是將一份問卷翻譯成另一國的文字並不足夠 )

– Back translation: a phrase/question is translated from one language to another and then back again

– Now an integrated approach: translators checking survey wording with cognitive interviews and focus group techniques to discuss the actual meanings of survey questions (翻譯者融合認知研究或焦點團體法技巧確認問卷題目中字詞的含義 )

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Data in Cross-Cultural Research

• Western cultural bias ( 西方文化的偏誤 ): a bias is organized around the outlook and perspective of advanced Western societies, largely insensitive to local, non-Western cultural issues or values

• An inverted focus ( 太自我中心 ): too self-centered, see concerns from the viewpoints of own cultural values and beliefs– Emic (以在地觀點或意義系統分析文化元素，適用於某一文化背景 ) and etic (以文化中立、比較的原則來分析文化，適用於多個文化環境 ) approaches

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Equivalence (同義 ) in H-C Research

• Equivalence: a particular issue in H-C research– Use the same concepts or measure in H-C re

search

• Similar to measurement validity in quantitative research

• Equivalence: totally foreign to subtle differences (同義 : 完全不同到細緻的差別 )

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Equivalence in H-C Research

• Lexicon equivalence ( 字彙上的同義 ): correct translation of words/phrases, finding words with same meaning ( 字詞的正確翻譯，找出意義完全相同的字 )– The meaning of words changes over time

• Contextual equivalence : the correct application of terms or concepts in different social/historical contexts (脈絡的同義 : 名詞或概念在不同社會或歷史脈絡下的正確應用 )

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Equivalence in H-C Research

• Conceptual equivalence: the ability to use the same concept across divergent cultures or historical eras (概念同義 : 在不同歷史或文化中使用相同的概念 )– Create concepts as true reflections of life experiences

in different cultures or eras?– Note: concepts can be incompatible across different c

ultures/time periods– Same/similar concepts exists but in different forms/str

engths– No direct cultural equivalent

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Equivalence in H-C Research

• Measurement equivalence: equal measures of the same concept in different settings ( 測量同義 : 在不同情境下測量相同的概念 )– Must examine many sources of partial eviden

ce in order to measure a theoretical construct

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Ethics of H-C Research

• Shares many ethical concerns found in nonreactive research

• Use of primary sources: difficult to replicate, protect privacy of sources (使用原始資料的考量 : 難以複製及隱私權的保護 )

• Sensitive to cultural and political issues of cross-cultural interaction (對跨文化中的文化及政治議題維持一定的敏感性 )