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Comparative Perspectives

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Handbook of Marriage and the Family

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to apply the method of comparative research to the study of families and family relations. The phrase comparative research, in the social sciences, is literally a redundancy. Research is inherently comparative (Kohn, 1987; Lee, 1982, 1984; Lee and Haas, 1993; Swanson, 1971). Any assessment of covariation or correlation between two variables is in fact a comparative statement: Cases that differ in terms of values of an independent variable are compared to ascertain whether they tend to be similar or different on a dependent variable. In this literal sense, all scientific knowledge is comparative.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, 43403-0231, USA

    Gary R. Lee

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Union Institute, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

    Marvin B. Sussman

  2. Department of Sociology, Indiana University — Purdue University at Indianapolis, 46236, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

    Suzanne K. Steinmetz

  3. Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, 85287-2502, Tempe, Arizona, USA

    Gary W. Peterson

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Lee, G.R. (1999). Comparative Perspectives. In: Sussman, M.B., Steinmetz, S.K., Peterson, G.W. (eds) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-5367-7_5

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