Introduction

Abstract

Regular readers of Soviet Studies in History undoubtedly are familiar with the works of Ivan Dmitrievich Koval'chenko of the Institute of History of the USSR, who clearly has emerged as one of the Soviet Union's foremost historians utilizing quantitative methods of research. In the fall 1978 issue, SSH published an article by Koval'chenko and N. V. Sivachev, "Structuralism and Structural-Quantitative Methods in Current Historical Research." Earlier (winter 1975-76) we printed Koval'chenko and Iu. Iu. Kakhk's "Methodological Problems of Applying Quantitative Methods in Historical Research." Apart from the historical problems examined in his works, Koval'chenko's writings contain an ardent plea for broader application of quantitative methods in history. The use of computers in historical scholarship in the USSR has not yet scored the successes and attracted the adherents enjoyed by quantitative techniques in the United States, West Germany, and France. In part the sluggish Soviet response has been due to limitations in Soviet computer technology, and perhaps to opposition from some fellow historians who look upon this methodology with skepticism.