Editorial: Comparative Survey Research

As Durkheim (1938, p. 139) noted in 1895, “Comparative sociology is not a particular branch of sociology, it is sociology itself, in so far as it ceases to be purely descriptive and aspires to account for facts.” And this of course applies to the social sciences as a whole. Increasingly social scientists are realizing not only the utility, but also the necessity, of comparative research (Bamyeh, 1993; Bollen, Entwisle, & Alderson, 1993; National Research Council, 2001; Hillsman, 2005). Genov (1991) has observed that “contemporary sociology stands and falls with its own internationalization … . The internationalization of sociology is the unfinished agenda of the sociological classics. It is the task of contemporary and future sociologists.” Likewise for political science, Brady (2000) has noted that cross-national research has produced theoretical insight about political participation, the role of values in economic growth and political action, and many other topics. As the Working Group on the Outlook for Comparative International Social Science Research has noted, “A range of research previously conceived as ‘domestic’ … clearly needs to be reconceptualized in light of recent comparative/international findings.” Unless a comparative perspective is adopted, “models and theories will continue to be ‘domestic’ while the phenomena being explained are clearly not” (Luce, Smelser, & Gerstein, 1989). Fortunately, the social sciences are increasingly recognizing the value of cross-national research. At the Social Science Research Council's (SSRC) 2006 meeting on Fostering International Collaboration in the Social Sciences, Ian Diamond, head of the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), indicated that “social science is a global undertaking and that it has been increasingly so for years” and David Lightfoot of the National Science Foundation pointed out that a “major reason for international collaboration is similar to that for interdisciplinary research, it is one of the most productive ways of making new and innovative connections … [and that] none of the social sciences is essentially national in character … ” (SSRC, 2006). Reflecting this, the American Sociological Association has recently been focusing on international collaboration and the connectedness of societies and social scientists around the globe (Hillsman, 2005). A similar internationalization of political science has been underway (Heath, Fisher, & Smith, 2005; Smith, 2000).