Presentation on the 85th Annual Meeting Eastern Sociological Society, New York, USA, February 28, 2015

1. An Inquiry into Comparative Sociology as a Science and
Teaching Discipline: Comparative Analysis of Six Cases:
USA, Germany, France, Britain, China, and Russia
Andrey V. Rezaev
Professor and Chair, Comparative Sociology,
St. Petersburg State University, Russia
anrezaev@yandex.ru
85th
Annual Meeting Eastern Sociological Society
New York, USA, February 28, 2015

2. Concise Encyclopedia of Comparative Sociology.
(2014) Masamichi Sasaki, Jack Goldstone, Ekkart
Zimmermann(Eds.), Brill: Leiden&Boston, p.xi

3. http://comparsociology.com/en/
Web-site designed by the PhD students and young scholars
at the Comparative Sociology Chair, St. Petersburg State
University

4. Overview
1. Objectives and Goals
2. Basic definitions and understanding of
Comparative Sociology
3. Six cases

5. • “Sociology's founding fathers were all
comparative researchers” (Concise Encyclopedia of
Comparative Sociology. (2014) Masamichi Sasaki, Jack Goldstone, Ekkart
Zimmermann(Eds.), Brill: Leiden&Boston, p.xi).
• “To some scholars, the term “comparative sociological
research” is strictly limited to comparisons of social
indicators and institutions across nations (also known as
“cross-national research”), but other scholars prefer to
widen the scope to include comparison of many different
types of social and/or cultural entities, while yet others use
the term to encompass comparisons of subcultures or
other social substrata either within or across nation-states
or other cultural and social entities and their boundaries”
(Ibid., p.xii).
• “The ultimate aim of comparative sociological research
is to develop concepts and generalizations based
upon identified similarities and differences among the
social entities being compared” (Ibid., p. xii).

6. Compare:
“It is generally recognized that Karl Marx, Max Weber,
Emil Durkheim are the patriarchs of sociology; the
same thinkers are considered to be the founding
fathers of comparative sociology” (p. 13).
“Comparative sociological research is about
developing approach to find out similarities and
differences among the social structures, institutions,
and processes” (p. 2).
(2014) Rezaev Andrey (Ed.) Comparative Sociology.
St. Petersburg State University Press,

7. Approaches to
Comparative Sociology:
•Comparative Sociology as a branch /
subfield of Sociology.
•Comparative Sociology as a method.

8. A third way of understanding
Comparative Sociology :
•Comparative Sociology is an Ideal
Type of Sociology
•Comparative Sociology is a Process
•Comparative Sociology is a Critique

9. Sociology as such is potentially
comparative. But this potential is realized
quite differently.
“Method-centric” approach: Comparative
Sociology is a subfield of sociology /
synonym of Comparative Method.
Our position emphasizes the central place of
the research question.
It is the research-questions-centric
position

10. Comparative sociological research as a
process of comparisons on every level
and stage of the sociological research.
“Research-questions-centric”
approach: an answer to the research
question is nothing but material for a
new set of research questions.

11. “Comparative sociology is
not a field, but a critique of
whatever seems narrow
and reductionist in
sociology” (I. Wallerstein).

12. The problems of teaching
•Research implies continuous and permanent
comparisons WHILE the teaching courses dissolve
them into separate problems and operations.
•Comparative sociologist is critical towards
preconditions and results WHILE education
presupposes above all learning of these
preconditions.
•Comparative sociology is an ideal type of sociology
WHILE contemporary differentiation of knowledge
and ‘departamentalization’ substitutes it with multiple
sociological branches and subfields.

13. • Hypothesis: CS is acknowledged by
sociologists and social scientists in general
but the reality of teaching sociology doesn’t
follow this acknowledgment.
• Hypothesis: Presence / absence and the
character of the gap between CS as an inquiry
and teaching discipline depend on national
specifics in organization of sociological
education.
OR
• Hypothesis: The gap is universal and transcends
national features of institutionalization of
sociology.

14. Comparative sociology as an
inquiry
Content analysis of national sociological journals
Databases:
•Jstor.org
•elibrary.ru
•oversea.cnki.net
•zfs-online.org
Search conditions:
•time of publication — 2000-2012/3/4 (depending on
access);
•words: “comparison” / “comparative” and their equivalents;
•location: title or abstract.

15. Case Journal Words
USA American Journal of Sociology;
American Sociological Review
Comparison, comparative
Britain The British Journal of
Sociology
Comparison, comparative
France Revue française de sociologie
(French Review of Soiology)
Comparaison, comparatif,
comparative; comparison,
comparative (for English
articles)
Germany Zeitschrift fur Soziologie
(Journal of Sociology)
Vergleigh, vergleichend;
Komparation, komparativ,
comparison, comparative
(for English articles)
China Shèhuì xué yánjiū (Sociological
Studies)
Bǐjiào
Russia Sotsiologicheskiye
issledovaniya (Sociological
Research)
Sravneniye, sravnitel'nyy

16. American
Journal of
Sociology
American
Sociological
Review
The British
Journal of
Sociology
Revue
française de
sociologie
Zeitschrift
fur
Soziologie
Shèhuì xué
yánjiū
Sotsiologich
eskiye
issledovaniy
a
Number of
articles
published in
2013/12/10
37 articles
130 reviews
44 articles 34 articles
25 reviews
22 articles
(18 in
French, 4 –
English
translations
of articles
already
published)
47 reviews
24 article 62 articles 231 articles
22 reviews
Average
number of
`pages of
article
published in
2013/12/10
39,4 for
article
2,6 for review
24,9 for
article
20,2 for
article
2,6 for article
for review
30,1 for
article
3,1 for review
23,7 for
article
21,6 for
article
7,4 for
article
3,4 for
article
Average
number of
thousands
of symbols
in the article
in
2013/12/10
105 for
article
7 for review
104 for
article
59 for article
10 for review
96 for article
13 for review
85 for article ___ 16 for article
9 for review
Number of
articles that
meet the
search
conditions
22 articles
24 reviews
62 articles 21 article
8 reviews
34 articles
(29 in
French, 5 –
English
translations
of articles
already
published)
4 reviews
31 article
(30 in
Deutsch, 1
in English)
62 article 69 article
3 reviews

17. USA
The most popular specification of comparison is
cross-national / cross-country.
Distinctive subfields of comparative social science
based on comparison are comparative history,
comparative law, comparative social policy.
For comparative mobility research; race, class and
gender studies comparative perspective is
determined by the topic
The notion Comparative sociology is mentioned
several times.
Comparative sociology is a marginal notion but it
has a wide range of meaning.

18. UK
The general usage of the term
“comparative” is very similar to those in
American journals.
Cross-national and historical comparative
analyses are almost equally represented.
Comparison of theories is mentioned more
often, but anyway episodically.

19. Germany
The most popular specification is cross-
national comparison (internationalen
Vergleigh ) or country comparison
(Landervergleigh).
Comparison of groups is widespread,
especially during statistical analysis, and also
comparison of indicators and coefficients.
Comparison is often in relation to concepts of
theories, based both on conceptual analysis
and on empirical testing.
Comparative sociology is not mentioned.

20. China
The most popular term is equivalent to
comparative study / research, often as
comparative study of several cases or
comparative case study.
The terms comparative history and
comparative policy studies are used.
Comparative sociology is not mentioned.

21. Russia
Russian publications are significantly less
voluminous because research is described
in a less strict and developed manner in all
aspects: literature review, research design,
methods, discussion, references
The articles provide reflections of several
topic illustrated the theoretical or / and
empirical data, not the sociological research
in a strict sense.

22. • comparative sociology is not a
subfield
• comparative sociology is not a
method
• comparative sociology could be
regarded as an ideal type of sociology
• comparative sociology is a process
• comparative sociology is critical

23. Comparative sociology as a
teaching discipline
Analysis of Comparative Sociology as a teaching
discipline is based on characteristics of
1.courses taught
2.research interests of lecturers/instructors
3.research centers of sociology / social science
departments of ten universities for each case.
The search for each university is limited by
corresponding department / faculty. There were
selected universities that are on the top in the
national rankings (social sciences).

24. Case Universities
USA Harvard; Stanford; Berkeley; Upenn; Uchicago; UCLA; Princeton; MIT; Duke; Yale
Britain University of Cambridge; Warwick University; The University of Manchester;
University of Essex; University of Edinburgh; University of Bristol; University of
Oxford; University of Sheffield; Cardiff University; London School of Economics and
Political Science (LSE)
France HEC Paris; Sciences Po Paris; Paris-Sorbonne University; Jean Moulin University Lyon
(1 and 3); Université de Nice Sophia Antipolis; Université de Strasbourg; University of
Paris 4 - Sorbonne; University of Lille 1; University of Lille 3; Paris West University
Nanterre La Défense
Germany Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München;
Universität Bielefeld; Universität zu Köln; Universität Hamburg; Universität Bremen;
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main; Universität Tübingen; Freie Universität Berlin;
University of Mannheim
Russia MSU; SPbSU; NSU; TSU; SFU; KSU; RUDN; HSE; RGSU; UrFU
China Peking University; Tsinghua University; Fudan University; Xiamen University; Zhejiang
University; Beijing Normal University; Renmin (People’s) University of China; Nanjing
University; Sun Yat-sen University; Wuhan University

25. The majority of courses is taught for students enrolled to the
graduate.
The dominant formulations are comparative methods and
comparative perspectives.
Contradiction with instructor’s research interests that are posed
more generally.
•USA case is the most indicative. American universities provide 115
courses / seminars in total connected with a field of comparative
sociology.
•British case is close to American one but is smaller in numbers.
•French case demonstrates the gap between comparative sociology as
an inquiry and as a teaching discipline in a most vivid way.
•German case demonstrates similar characteristics through national
specifics.
•In China no one of ten universities has comparative sociology as
separate course
•For Russian case division between levels of education is less
important; however, general typology of comparative method –
comparative perspective courses is in evidence.

26. Hypothesis: CS is acknowledged by
sociologists and social scientists in general but
the reality of teaching sociology doesn’t follow
this acknowledgment.
Hypothesis: Presence / absence and the
character of the gap between CS as an inquiry and
teaching discipline depend on national specifics of
institutional framework.
OR
Hypothesis: The gap is universal and
transcends national features of institutionalization
of sociology.

27. Some proposals
1. Foster research in teams and teamwork in
audience in BA and MA programs.
2. Focus on teaching mixed methods research as
approaching comparative sociology.
3. Increase quality and quantity of courses of
research methodology.
4. Develop research comparative sociology centers
affiliated and interaction with sociology / social
science departments.
5. Develop cross- and trans-university, -regional
and -national interactions.
6. Continue discussion of the issues on
comparative sociology at the International
Forums.

28. “Comparative sociology has thus always
represented a number of vectors
simultaneously: anti-ethnocentriesm (see
also world-system), interest in the macro
levels, and interest in complex structures,
hence interest in historical detail.
Comparative sociology is not a field, but a
critique of whateve seems narrow and
reductionist in sociology. The disappearance
of the term will mean either the great
success or the great failure of this critique”.
(I. Wallerstein).

29. www.comparsociology.com