ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines important conceptual and methodological issues in comparative cross-national research. Scholars from different disciplines have a tendency to discuss comparative research methods as a field by itself and to appeal to researchers for methodological innovation. Comparative research draws upon existing methods and techniques in social, behavioral, and management sciences and is therefore largely dependent on developments in other fields. Developing societies have experienced tremendous social, economic, demographic, and political changes during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Technological revolutions in agriculture and industry and expansion of education, transportation, and communication have created new institutions and opportunities. These and other factors have contributed to changes in the composition and the size of the world population. Generally, modernization involves a high degree of structural differentiation and social, economic, and political mobilization facilitating the emergence of centralized institutions. These institutions promote the participation of diverse groups in the national mainstream.
