Contextualization in Comparative Historical Analysis

Wenkai He, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Comparative methodology has been the theoretical focus on comparative and historical sociology. In comparison, the issue of ontology has received less attention. How much a researcher knows the cases the comparative studies, an issue largely connected to ontology rather than methodology, to a great extent shapes the design of comparative exploration. Deep historical knowledge of cases can make seemingly incomparable cases talk to each other. The depth of the historical knowledge of cases is closely connected to the degree of contextualization of each case. However, the danger in such efforts is anachronism: one may project concepts back into history to explain political changes that occurred at times in which these concepts were not yet available to historical actors. Comparative studies paying inadequate attention to complexity in historical context often take two forms. The first derives a theoretical insight by studying a case with which the researcher is relatively familiar. It then either explicitly or implicitly determines the direction of investigation of other cases of which the same researcher possesses relatively less contextualized knowledge. The second form is often seen in quantitatively-oriented comparative studies. Once a data-set coded from various countries has been prepared, it becomes the empirical basis of theoretical exploration. Too little attention is paid to reexamine the historical context that generated the raw materials from which the data is being coded, particularly in light of new historical scholarship. Context becomes even more important when our analysis involves multiple historical cases in different times and places. From the perspective of theory-building, a more deeply contextualized examination of the cases can provide a more solid empirical basis not only to test theoretical hypotheses but also to question well-established paradigms in social science.

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 Presented in Session 113. Commemorating Xiaohong Xu: Comparative Historical Methodology and China Studies