Search and Research in Ethnology: Continuous Comparative Analysis1

Abstract

This article presents continuous comparative analysis as a research method suitable for examining data cross-culturally. We describe com paring as a universal cognitive process, basic to all sociological and an thropological endeavors. We present the comparative process in cross- cultural research and suggest that differences in anthropological research strategies appear for two reasons: First, some researchers are prepared to test hypotheses across cultures, while others believe that such tests are premature and are satisfied at this stage to develop plausible theories of human nature. To test hypotheses, researchers must concern themselves with the comparability of their population units. To generate hypotheses, investigators question each other about the comparability of their analytic units. Second, research goals require varying balance between stages of induction and deduction and vary in how long the process of alternating between induction and deduction may be maintained. Continuous com parative analysis is a suitable method for cross-cultural research because it enables us to continue the comparative process basic to our discipline throughout the research task.