Historical-Comparative Research ( 歷史比較研究 )

Historical-Comparative Research (歷史比較研究) Social Research Methods Spring 2007 May 2~7, 2007

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

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)

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)

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)

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

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

Unique Features of H-C Research • Limited and indirect evidence (有限、間接的證據): reconstructs from fragments and incomplete evidence • Reconstruction of the past or another culture easily distorted (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)

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)

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 model, organizing and giving new meaning to evidence • Writing a report (報告撰寫是重要關鍵)

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, diaries, 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)

Data and Evidence in Historical Context • Research with secondary sources • No clear rules and procedures in using secondary sources (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)

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 judgment (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

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 causal relationships

Comparative Research • More difficult, more costly, and more time consuming • Rarely use random sampling • Apply, not test theory, and make limited generalizations • 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)

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。)

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

Data in Cross-Cultural Research • Cross-national survey research—survey questionnaires and multiple languages • Simply translate one questionnaire into another language 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)

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

Equivalence (同義) in H-C Research • Equivalence: a particular issue in H-C research • Use the same concepts or measure in H-C research • 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)

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)

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 cultures/time periods • Same/similar concepts exists but in different forms/strengths • No direct cultural equivalent

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 evidence in order to measure a theoretical construct

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)

Historical-Comparative Research ( 歷史比較研究 )