ABSTRACT
The methodology of comparative research has been subject to a number of theoretical discussions during the last three decades. Therefore, a substantial body of literature exists which deals with the problems encountered in comparative research. One point, however, is implicit in the majority of the theoretical discussions presented in these works: more than two nations are compared. Often a comparison of virtually all the countries in the world is implied. This assumption has the effect of focusing the discussions on problems of worldwide comparisons, problems which may be absent or of minor importance in comparisons dealing with two countries. For instance, questions concerning the collection of statistics from a large number of nations, establishment of data-banks for cross-cultural indicators and the establishment of typologies tend to focus the discussions on quantitative measures and indicators. With the present status of aggregate statistics in China, comparative research involving India and China has, on the contrary, tended to employ qualitative data.
