Stein Rokkan’s Methodology of Macro-Historical Comparison

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 508-547
Author(s):  
Lars Mjøset
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Formal Theory ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Topological Maps ◽  
Historical Comparison ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Comparative Methodology ◽  
Science Framework

Stein Rokkan (1921–1979) left behind him an unfinished, ambitious macro-historical research project aiming to explain mobilization sequences, democratic resilience, and party systems in 16 Western European countries. This article explicates the comparative methodology behind this project with reference to a philosophy of social science framework. The main features of the methodology are a series of intermediate, substantive, methodological elements in between formal theory (paradigms) and empirical observations. Each element is presented in detail: lists of variables, regional grid, typological-topological maps, and comparative case reconstructions. Problems due to under-specification of variables and ambiguities in Rokkan’s ideas about parsimonious systematizations are discussed, and two possible ways of revising the methodology are sketched. Among these, the contextualist option seems the most promising one.

Theory, Method, and Social Reproduction in Social Science History: A Short Jeremiad

1999 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-499
Author(s):  
Charles Wetherell
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Formal Methods ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Theory Method ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Science History ◽  
Social Science History ◽  
Collective Enterprise

Let me begin with a simple theme, repentance, and a simple message: repent from complacency in the practice and defense of social science history (SSH). I say this because I do not see social science historians meeting three major challenges that must be overcome if the larger, collective enterprise is to survive with the same vitality it had a decade ago. Those challenges are, first, to bring social theory forcefully back into historical research; second, to take formal methods to a new, higher level; and, third, to seek to train the next generation of social science historians in the theory and methods they will need in the next century.

The Origin Myths of Computing in Historical Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-45
Author(s):  
Adam Crymble
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Humanities Computing ◽  
Multiple Origin ◽  
New Knowledge ◽  
Mass Digitization ◽  
Origin Myths ◽  
New Generation

This chapter outlines the multiple origin myths of “digital” historical research, arguing that social science inspired cliometricians and linguistically inclined humanities computing scholars working on textual collections were both using computers from the mid-twentieth century, but with very different intellectual agendas and only occasionally crossing paths. With the rise of mass digitization in the 1990s, both groups inspired a new generation of “digital” historians who worked to unlock the potential of the newly digitized archives. Wrestling with practical and intellectual challenges ranging from poor-quality transcription to dealing with incomplete data, this group generated new knowledge and answered new questions such as “what do you do with a million books?” but were not necessarily contributing directly to the existing conversations of the historiography

The Automated Archivist: Interdisciplinarity and the Process of Historical Research

1985 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-184
Author(s):  
Chad Gaffield ◽  
Peter Baskerville
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Science History ◽  
Systematic Data ◽  
The Past ◽  
Relevant Evidence ◽  
Social Science History ◽  
Rigorous Study ◽  
Social Scientific

The basis of most historical research including social science history is quite unsystematic. This characteristic results from the ways in which researchers find and choose historical sources for examination. Despite claims to be systematic, historians still tend to identify relevant evidence in impressionistic ways. Many social science histories involve the rigorous study of a source happily discovered by chance. Of course, access to the past has never been easy. Researchers have always lamented a presumed lack of “essential” records. Nonetheless, the actual ways we discover existing evidence have received little attention despite the fact that this process is fraught with difficulties and hidden dangers especially for researchers of a social scientific bent. Do not the presuppositions of social science history extend to the identification of sources? How do we know when we have all the “relevant data” for a particular project? Can systematic data analysis be justifiably built upon unsystematic identification of sources?

The Genocidal Mentality: Philip II of Spain and Sultan Abdul Hamid II

1986 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-42
Author(s):  
Robert. E. Kuttner
Keyword(s):  
Personality Traits ◽  
Psychological Tests ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Behavioral Profile ◽  
Historical Comparison ◽  
Elective Office ◽  
Industrial Democracies ◽  
Philip Ii Of Spain

A brief historical comparison of Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey and King Philip II of Spain with Adolph Hitler revealed several similar personality traits that may be characteristic determinants of individuals prone to undertake genocidal measures. A commitment to bureaucratic detail coupled with an opportunistic belief in a Messianic destiny are key factors in these absolute rulers. The former attribute is considered to be so common in industrial democracies that psychological tests designed to eliminate such persons from holding high elective office are impractical. Further historical research on individuals implicated in unwarranted continuing massacres may uncover items in the behavioral profile that can serve as sorting criteria to identify latent inhumanity.

Introduction: History and the Other Social Sciences, Part 1

1991 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-200
Author(s):  
Eric Monkkonen
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Directions ◽  
Science History ◽  
Introduction History ◽  
Social Science History ◽  
The Impact

In this issue of Social Science History we begin a special series of articles surveying the impact and use of historical research and reasoning in the other social sciences—anthropology, economics, geography, political science, and sociology. The authors of the essays have been asked to analyze their disciplines so that readers will get a sense both of major issues and research directions and of influences. In addition, they have been asked to include in their references older important works as well as more recent ones, so that those in other disciplines may use the essays as bibliographic sources. After the series is completed, we expect to publish an expanded version of it as a separate book.

scholarly journals KURIKULUM PENDIDIKAN SEJARAH DALAM PERSPEKTIF HISTORIS

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zulkarnain Zulkarnain
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Education History ◽  
History Teaching ◽  
Historical Material ◽  
Theory Of History ◽  
Curriculum Education ◽  
Selection Of

AbstrakPenelitian ini bertujuan untuk: (1) mengetahui eksistensi pembelajaran sejarah dalam kurikulum 2013, dan (2) mengetahui bagaimana pengorganisasian pembelajaran sejarah dalam kurikulum pembelajaran sejarah dilihat dari perspektif historis. Metode yang digunakan peneliti dalam penulisan sejarah ini adalah metode penelitian menurut Kuntowijoyo. Adapun tahapan penelitian sejarah menurut Kuntowijoyo mempunyai lima tahap yaitu pemilihan topik, heuristik, verifikasi, interpretasi, dan penulisan. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa materi sejarah dimasukkan dalam kurikulum sekolah untuk membangun kohesi dan identitas nasional, serta pewarisan nilai, etika, dan budaya kepada peserta didik. Pengorganisasian materi berkaitan dengan penguasaan konsep atau tema besar yang diambil dari disiplin ilmu sosial serta penggunaan teori sejarah atau disiplin ilmu sosial. Konsep perubahan (change), kesinambungan (continuity), konflik, revolusi, interdependensi, relasi sosial, status dan peranan, budaya, masyarakat, peradaban, dan lain-lain dapat menjadi tema dalam pembelajaran sejarah. Konsep dapat membantu memahami berbagai objek, peristiwa, gagasan, fenomena, serta dapat digunakan untuk memecahkan masalah.Kata Kunci: kurikulum, pendidikan, sejarah, historis.  AbstractThis study aims to: (1) know the existence of the teaching of history in the curriculum of 2013, and (2) determine how to organize the teaching of history in the curriculum of history teaching viewed from a historical perspective. The method the researchers used in the writing of this history is a research method according to Kuntowijoyo. The stages of historical research according to Kuntowijoyo has five stages, namely the selection of topics, heuristic, verification, interpretation, and writing. The results showed that the historical material included in the school curriculum to build cohesion and national identity, as well as the inheritance of values, ethics, and culture to students. Organizing the material related to the mastery of concepts or major themes drawn from social science disciplines as well as the use of the theory of history or social science discipline. The concept of change (change), continuity (continuity), conflict, revolution, interdependence, social relations, status and roles, culture, society, civilization, and others can become a theme in the teaching of history. The concept could help understand a variety of objects, events, ideas, phenomena, and can be used to solve problems.Keywords: curriculum, education, history, historical.

PARTY SYSTEMS, PARTY-SOCIETY LINKAGES, AND CONTENTIOUS ACTS: CYPRUS IN A COMPARATIVE, SOUTHERN EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE*

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giorgos Charalambous ◽  
Gregoris Ioannou
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Party System ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Standard Of Living ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
European Perspective ◽  
Southern European Countries

Southern European countries are currently experiencing a dramatic economic slump and fully fledged austerity measures. Accordingly, the standard of living of the majority of southern European populaces has fallen significantly. Nevertheless, the dynamics of social contention in the form of strikes and demonstrations that accompany these experiences remain understudied. Why, in certain southern European countries, has collective upset arising from economic deprivation translated into frequent and large-scale contentious acts, while in others it has not? Drawing on the case of Cyprus from a comparative, southern European perspective, we seek to explain how relations within the party system, as well as between parties and civil society, can create the conditions that obstruct open social conflict. The intensity and nature of party-society linkages with causal roots in a country's history can be a sufficient condition for the relative absence of protest.

I. Formal theory in social science

Inquiry ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Formal Theory
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