comparative method
Sociologists have embraced what is known as the comparative method as the most efficient way to expose taken-for-granted truths or laws that people have adopted. But what is this comparative method and how does it work? ... What forms or variations of the comparative method exist? In the pages to follow I will attempt to give you some insight and understanding of what the comparative method is, and how it works. The comparative method, simply put, is the process of comparing two things (in our case societies, or the people that make up society) and seeing if the result of the comparison shows a difference between the two. The comparative method attempts to dereify (the process of exposing misinterpreted norms. ... Which form of the comparative method should one use however? ... Lets look at little more closely at the above mentioned historical comparison and see how the comparative method works with a specific example. ... Thus we can conclude, thanks to the comparative method, that the constructed truth that all people view morale issues the same is not a correct one. ... Another major comparative form is that of the cross-generational. ... In fact, its much like the historical comparison method but on a much smaller scale. ... Finally we come to the last major comparative form. ... For the next example I will show how the cross-cultural comparative method dereifies some of the constructed so-called universal-truths that people in our society may have. ... One of the major benefits for exposing these truths through the comparative method is the fact that dereifying accepted truths leads to a decrease in ethnocentrism. ... As you can see, the comparative method is an essential part of a sociologists practice. ... Hopefully I have shown by example the various forms of the comparative method and how each of them applies to society and how they attempt to expose falsities.