Comparative methods
Comparative method is about looking at an object of study in relation to another. The object of study is normally compared across space and/or time. Comparative methods can be qualitative and quantitative. Often, there is a trade-off: the more cases to compare, the less comparable variables available and vice versa.
The comparative method is often applied when looking for patterns of similarities and differences, explaining continuity and change. Often applied in comparative research is the Most Similar Systems Design (that consists in comparing very similar cases that differ in the dependent variable, on the assumption that this will make it easier to find those independent variables which explain the presence/absence of the dependent variable) or the Most Different Systems Design (comparing very different cases, all of which have the same dependent variable in common, so that any other circumstance that is present in all the cases can be regarded as the independent variable).
A challenge in comparative research is that what may seem as the same category across countries may in fact be defined very differently in these same countries.
News about comparative methods
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The PREVEX project officially launched in Brussels
7 Feb 2020Why are some communities more likely to experience violent extremism than others?
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Drivers of violent extremism: NUPI to coordinate EU-funded project
19 Dec 2019PREVEX will shed light on how the various drivers of violent extremism operate.
Publications about comparative methods
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Publication
Working Paper: Comparing the EU’s Output Effectiveness in the Cases of Afghanistan, Iraq and Mali
2018This part of the overall report (Deliverable 7.1) on the EU’s crisis response in Afghanistan, Iraq and Mali compares the findings of three comprehensive cases-studies. The analytical focus is on the output dimension of EU policy-making that is the output of decision-making of the policy-making machinery... -
Publication
: ARTIKKEL
Comparative Analysis for Theory Development: Reflections on a Study of Women’s Empowerment
Methodological texts about comparative work have focused overwhelmingly on controlled comparisons aimed at causal inference. To show the range of possible goals and approaches, this piece reflects on our own choices while studying the state and women’s empowerment in Norway, Japan, and the United States....
Research projects about comparative methods
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Research project
Strengthening Fragile States through Taxation (FRAGTAX)
2021 - 2024 (Ongoing)How is the political authority to tax established, exercised and maintained over time? State-building requires predictable income. Without a domestic revenue base, even core activities states are expected...
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Research project
Scandinavia as an arena for Chinese economic statecraft
2021 - 2022 (Ongoing)China's utilisation of economic statecraft as a foreign policy tool challenges the accustomed distinction between Norwegian business policies, and Norwegian security policy. This opens for a novel...
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Photo: NTB Scanpix
Research project
Reactions to state regulation of Islam in times of Daesh (STATEISLAM)
2021 - 2025 (Ongoing)In recent years, in response to the rise of ISIS, governments in the Middle East have begun to control the religious spheres in their countries more tightly. In Egypt, for example, President Abdulfattah...