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The existence of a mode effect is assessed using data from two matched groups of 15- to 16-year-olds (n = 466) who completed a questionnaire either as a Web-based online version or an "optical mark recognition" paper version. This article focuses specifically on the length of answers to four open-ended questions included in the questionnaire. It was found that although the online answers to three of the four questions tended to be slightly longer than those from the paper version, the differences were not statistically significant. Other factors, specifically gender and educational aspirations, appeared to have much more influence on the length of answers to open-ended questions than the mode of delivery per se. The findings do not provide conclusive evidence of any mode effect with respect to the online delivery of questionnaires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction clarifies the importance of the subject: comparative sociology of examinations, on the basis that stimulating insights on examinations have been offered by prominent sociologists, and that this subject will encourage self-reflection of sociology. It also explains how this special issue arises from a joint session in ISA World Congress of Sociology Yokohama 2014, and introduces briefly the series of five papers selected from thirteen papers and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Younger children in urban settings are predisposed to numerous risks, yet their 'voices' remain underrepresented in research making them unheard and invisible. The paucity of methods that encourage children's direct participation in studies from such settings, in effect, limits exploration of their ability to engage meaningfully in voicing their lived experiences and potentially informing protection interventions that target them. This paper draws from a study carried out in Kenya and South Africa, which in part sought children's perspectives on their lived experiences within their urban environment. Qualitative methods utilized in data collection included drawing, telling and conversations. The findings highlight risk exposures children contend with, which have an implication on child protection, safe spaces, mobility of children in urban areas, creating child-friendly neighbourhoods, policies and methodological approaches that intensify younger children's 'voices', in highlighting lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can a good's durability tell us about its market organization? This paper argues that the socially expected durability of goods is one of their most important features. It illuminates temporal and material aspects of market organization and social change across different markets. While recent literature in the sociology of markets tends to emphasize financial goods, intangible assets, and the service economy, markets for material durable and nondurable consumer goods are still surprisingly pervasive in everyday life and in the household economy, as well as in modern economies' basic infrastructure. Based on a comparison of the extreme cases of durable housing and fresh fish markets, we come to the general finding that the higher a good's expected durability, the smaller the share of its new production will be and the larger its aftermarkets. Furthermore, it will be more tightly linked to credit and insurance markets, and its market will be more volatile in the short-term, but more inert in the long-term. Beyond this static distinction, we show how socio-technical mechanisms can "durabilize" or "dedurabilize" goods and hence change their market form. By comparing markets along the durability dimension, this paper contributes to a comparative sociology of market organization that goes beyond single-market studies, while at the same time opening up space for a more dynamic understanding of social change and market segmentation over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At times of crisis, existing institutional arrangements of societies are thrown into question. Crises that occur in multiple societies simultaneously present rare opportunities for comparative empirical analysis. Social theory can reveal the framing conditions of the responses to crises and the sources of variations between them. This paper compares the immediate responses of the Australian, UK and US governments to the global COVID-19 pandemic, particularly with regard to financing lockdowns, and points out significant differences between the three approaches. Drawing on Polanyi's method of institutional analysis, we compare the responses of these same national groups to an earlier crisis, the Japanese prisoner of war camps during the Second World War, to show similar patterns of integration recurring eight decades apart. This analysis shows that aspects of moral economies that are not usually apparent can become pronounced during crises, and points to the importance of enduring social imaginaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the history of sociology in India to colonial anthropology and Indology. I argue that the compulsions of post-colonial society have also made specific demands on the discursive terrain of sociology. Fundamental to the pursuit of sociological knowledge in India, I believe, was a core debate about its mode of discursive practice – specifically, a debate between particularistic and universalistic orientations. From this point of view, I re-read the history of sociology in India. In doing so, I argue that close attention to the history of sociology helps us see the extent to which foundational western approaches to historical and comparative sociology have affected the historical development of sociology in India. Ironically, this has meant that the degree of historical self-awareness in Indian sociology has been limited. Hence, I discuss the grounds for the weak historical self-awareness in terms of historical sociology in India. I conclude by discussing how a strengthened tradition of historical sociology can be a tool to revitalize the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What can variously be understood as "comparative sociology" take different contours and raise further issues and questions in different sociological traditions which in turn are shaped by different theoretical paradigms. The paper outlines conceptual and theoretical framework for a discussion about the current status of comparative sociology. Comparative sociology is perceived as an organization of research through constant comparisons at the different levels and stages of research. The paper presents outcomes of the field research that is developed on the basis of distinction between two modalities of comparative sociology: comparative sociology as an inquiry and comparative sociology as a teaching discipline. One basic and two subordinate alternative hypotheses are tested in the course of comparative analysis of the seven cases. Discussion of these cases results in formulation of specific questions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to outline and compare frameworks for studying post- Soviet transformations developed by social scientists from various disciplines in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. The objective is realized by means of quantitative content analysis of scholarly articles' abstracts in ninety-four journals in eight (inter)disciplinary fields that covers the period of 2001-2015. This paper seeks to answer the question whether differences in the studies of the post-Soviet transformations are defined by country discourse or by the field of study. The research results suggest that there is a two-level mechanism, by which the societal context affects academia, in this case, social sciences and humanities. While general directions of scholarly attention are determined by societal differences, representations of post-Soviet transformations are framed through specific disciplinary lenses that combine both international and post- Soviet features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses comparative sociology and social and economic developments in Soviet Union.

Deriving inspiration from the Jörg Niewöhner and Thomas Scheffer collection on dilemmas of ethnographic comparison, this paper addresses some of the processes and problematics of ethnographic comparative analysis. In contrast to the broader, methodologically inclusive and conceptually more diffuse approach in the collection, I present a more focused theoretical, methodological, and conceptual approach. Locating ethnographic comparative analysis within the quest for conceptuality and authenticity across the human sciences, this paper introduces a set of transsituational concepts or generic social processes which focuses comparisons on activity (and interchange). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-cultural research has become important in this postmodern world where many people have been made, and are still, marginalised and vulnerable by others in more powerful positions like colonial researchers. In this paper, I contend that qualitative research is particularly appropriate for cross-cultural research because it allows us to find answers which are more relevant to the research participants. Cross-cultural qualitative research must be situated within some theoretical frameworks. In this paper, I also provide different theoretical frameworks that cross-cultural researchers may adopt in their research. Performing qualitative cross-cultural research is exciting, but it is also full of ethical and methodological challenges. This paper will encourage readers to start thinking about methodological issues in performing cross-cultural research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Sociology is the property of Canadian Journal of Sociology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper suggests an experimental approach to comparison. It is argued that comparing should be detached from the question of adequacy in order to regain it as an analytical and explorative tool. This approach is put to work by comparing boxing to computer programming. Drawing on comparisons of sports practices to other social practices by Mead and Bourdieu, the paper deploys sports comparison quite similarly. In a comparative perspective the practice of writing code for software is depicted by using means and modes of description developed from an ethnography of boxing. This serves for illuminating and understanding programming's gestural and embodied logic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper facilitates the comparative analysis between two histories of higher education. Those interested in the 160 years-old ideas of university in Romania and Japan will find in this study details on the historical, social and political conditions from which they grew, the first locations, purposes and organizational structures, legal frameworks, commonalities and peculiarities. The nature of higher education is grasped through many contrasts: public and private, free and not, masses and elites etc. By revisiting the beginnings and major developments of higher education in these two very distinct countries, this study promises to identify points that are central to a mature understanding of its origins. It mainly addresses the question: What are the main grassroots differences and similarities between Romanian and Japanese higher education? The answer unfolds in the light of events and characteristics, intertwined with explanation and reasoning. A tangential intention is to counterbalance scholarly efforts invested in comparative higher education research, excessively fashioned on present and recent times, or on biases built on the developed/developing notion of a country. This work is marginally international in scope, as it defends in-depth study and rigorous research against algorithms used by university rankings in attempts to compare institutions of higher education around the world, taking no account of the distant but relevant past, and promoting the idea that such a comparison can be made possible with several clicks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central concern of this paper is the linkages between contradiction and social change, as developed in the work of Nishida Kitarō, a critical social philosopher who explored the nature of social contradiction vis-à-vis local agency, global structures, and social change. Building on Nishida’s conceptual framework, I trace social change to the ontological nature of social contradiction as manifest in myriad social phenomena. This then provides a critical lens for analyzing the contemporary development of community-supported agriculture (CSA). Indeed, the growing popularity of CSAs across the USA makes visible a host of social contradictions, including those between local and global food production and between local consumption and global distribution. Invoking Nishida to peel back the layers of contradiction and assess the potential social impact of CSAs, we address two broad questions. First, what is the nature of contradiction as a fundamental aspect of social life? Second, how can the notion of contradiction help us frame the role of CSAs as a force for social change? In this manner, Nishida’s interpretation of social contradiction shapes our understanding of CSAs, while our understanding of CSAs further refines our assessment of Nishida. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the work of Shmuel Noah Eisenstadt mainly in the perspective of the author’s specific encounters with his work, in the course of which Eisenstadt’s work is compared with that of Talcott Parsons. There are several aspects of this programme. First, brief attention is given to the biographies of Eisenstadt and Parsons; second, their styles and approaches to sociological analysis are compared and contrasted; third, the subject of their somewhat different approaches to what I will call globality is raised, against the background of Eisenstadt’s great reliance on the later work of Karl Jaspers and the somewhat problematic issue of civilization(s). The discussion of Eisenstadt’s deployment of Jaspers’ insights is explored with particular reference to the former’s Japanese Civilization. Often regarded as the graveyard of comparative sociology, Eisenstadt’s attempt to place Japan in a comparative context is, in a number of respects, the consummation of his life’s work, though he had many years yet to live. The paper concludes with a question concerning whether global consciousness has superseded, or transcended, the contrast between differential modernization and global civilization. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper adds Bono, the lead singer of U2, to a list of dandies, or personality performers, in the tradition of Oscar Wilde. The paper focuses on Bono in the early 1990s, during the band's Zoo TV concert tour, and considers Bono and Wilde's Irish and aesthetic connections. Bono deserves to be counted among notorious personality performers, and Wilde deserves to be taken seriously as Bono is today, due to the solemn turn his life took near its end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative sociology is stranded; as a result of globalization, it is losing the ground upon which it was built. In cross-national studies, a longstanding research tradition in sociology, globalization blurs the national in material and non-material ways, and thus erodes two fundamental principles any comparative studies need to obey: case independence and case comparability. Two familiar solutions—the nationalist approach and the globalist approach—do not work in the face of globalization. This paper argues instead that the emergent property approach and the variable approach, strategies that respect both global and national–local forces, are viable alternatives for future comparative sociologists to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts of studies in comparative sociology. They include "De-Axialization/Re-Axialization the Case of Brazilian Millennialism," "Jewish Salvational Visions, Utopias, and Attitudes Towards the Halacha," and "Hasidism: The Surprising Utopia."

Copyright of Scientific Annals of the 'Al. I. Cuza' University, Iasi. Sociology & Social Work / Analele Stiintifice ale Universitatii 'Al. I. Cuza' Iasi Sociologie si Asistenta Sociala is the property of Alexandru Ioan Cuza University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper argues that a materialistic understanding of history as Marx's sociological research program has effectively been implemented in the comparative analysis of bourgeois societies. Both qualitative/case-oriented and quantitative/variable-oriented strategies of comparison were employed by Marx in his scholarship. The authors see the crucial dimension of the classical status of Marx in his engagement with historical comparisons - an analytical tendency he shares with Weber and, to some extent, Durkheim. A short historical exposition tracing the early reception of Marx in sociology continues with the most important contemporary criticisms of Marx's comparative-historical analysis, focusing on the issues of Asiatic mode of production, the nature of European feudalism and the problem of capitalist rationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The field of urban sociology has been significantly linked to particular cities, with cities such as Chicago (IL), Los Angeles (CA), and New York City (NY) have become hallmarks reflecting both the possibilities and the limitations of the urban sociological imagination. Using what have been three major foci in American urban sociology - 1) Organization of the City, 2) Ethnography and 3) Neighborhoods - using a comparative assessment of the field this paper seeks to apprehend the larger understandings, trends and methods in the field. Comparing urban sociological methods and theories through sections focusing on the three aforementioned themes, this article underscores paths taken in the field whilst highlighting potential new directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In my original article "Scandals as a Positive Feature of Liberal Democratic Politics: A Durkheimian perspective" (2012b), I argued that scandals are actually a positive feature of liberal democratic politics, and rather than representing a threat to political stability serve an important function. Scandals provide a "safety valve" for the expression of negativity towards political actors while reinforcing collective values and ultimately strengthening the system, consistent with Durkheim's ideas. The response to this article certainly contains some thought-provoking examples, but they do not contradict my argument that scandal can only occur in liberal democracies due to the necessity of freedom of speech, an open and aggressive media and strong political competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "process" concept is particularly crucial especially for historical and comparative sociology. This paper explains the objective of this HSR Focus; after referring to the term "process-oriented" in related human and social sciences, it necessitates the examining "process-oriented" theories in historical and comparative sociology from the viewpoint of "process-generated data." Finally the paper indicates the duality of "process-oriented" theories as a tentative summary of results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Cultura y Religión is the property of Miguel Angel Mansilla Aguero and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Charles Tilly’s work on process analysis offers a methodological approach to comparative-historical sociology that can be considered paradigmatic. Yet the approach has been widely criticized for lack of rigor. This paper maintains that the problem lies in insufficient clarification of the approach’s central concept: mechanism. Once scrutinized, the concept reveals a tension between its connotation and its denotation. This can be addressed in two ways: either by maintaining what the concept connotes according to Tilly but limiting what it denotes (thus limiting the paradigm’s scope conditions) or by limiting what it connotes and maintaining what it was intended by Tilly to denote (thus maintaining wide scope conditions). Elucidating the possibilities of processual comparison is particularly important for comparative-historical sociology because the subfield rests upon processual presuppositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the concept of social trust to extend the 'institutional economics' of North and Olson, and more specifically Hedlund's 'path dependence' account of Russia's economic development. For this purpose it compares the evolution of Britain and Russia since the eighteenth century. A key determinant of social trust is the relation between the state, money and the population. In Britain trust was mobilised through state fiscal policies, public credit, and the rule of law. In Russia (and the USSR) trust was also placed in a strong state, but one which operated rather through personal patronage and the joint responsibility of local institutions. This crucial difference explains why in the 1990s Russia adapted so poorly to market economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This short contribution is a response to Robert Prus' commentary paper "Ethnographic Comparisons, Complexities and Conceptualities." We agree with many of the points raised and merely reiterate three aspects of our position in order to reinforce the unique features of our notion of thick comparison: First, ethnography has an important role to play in social inquiry. Second, ethnographers appropriate fields by getting involved in them. This involvement enables the production of comparability, which we do not understand to be an inherent quality of the world. Third, producing comparability is an ongoing process at the heart of thick comparison. Its failure and limitations are productive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I use international differences in disability rates as a window to address the question how national culture influences a nation’s understanding and practice of disability. I apply the well-established distinction between individualistic and collectivistic cultures to explore the relationship between culture and disability rates. I argue and find support for the hypothesis that individualistic cultures exhibit higher rates of disability. In the second part I add cultural and institutional detail to the account. While individualistic and collectivist cultures both value assistance to the disabled, only the Western individualist tradition produces a rights-based approach to disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia Internationalis is the property of Duncker & Humblot GmbH and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper argues that it is impossible to know why we laugh. There are a number of theories that attempt to explain why we laugh but they all have limitations. It is possible, however, to know what makes us laugh and 45 techniques that inform humor are listed and used to analyze a number of humorous texts. These techniques can also be used to study the humor of different nations to determine which they favor and which they neglect, thus offering insights into national character. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnographic comparison identifies and analyses core mechanisms which integrate and drive various ethnographic fields. This is exemplified here by what we term, following Luhmann, "the binding mechanism" – which we identify in criminal cases from England, the United States and Germany. By choosing criminal cases as the dynamic frames of "their" (participants') activity and "our" (observers') analysis, thick comparison questions the sources of stability found in structural comparisons of legal doctrines, namely fixed items, definite meaning, and detached contexts. This paper discusses how these features of structural comparison are replaced by more dynamic components, such as becomings, involvements, and formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues for the need of a sociology of grace, based on a sociology of the Renaissance, central - among others - for understanding the modern condition. Such an approach takes its point of departure in Max Weber's comparative study of the rise of world religions and his concept of charismatic power, yet goes beyond Weber in emphasising the significance of a series of renascences, culminating in the European Renaissance starting from the Duecento. The paper starts with a short linguistic and historical background analysis. The linguistic study reveals that terms related to «grace» have three distinct meanings: theological (the power and mercy of God), aesthetic (the power of graceful beauty), and socio-anthropological (charity and gift relations). The historical analysis goes back to the axial age hypothesis but argues that - as the three great monotheistic world religions, redefined as «religions of grace» - each developed outside the time horizon of the axial age, this period, though an extremely important moment of liminal crisis, cannot be considered as the «centre» of world history. Emphasis is placed, instead, on the more or less parallel emergence of ancient Judaism and Minoan culture, each based on epiphany experiences, one male and the other female, thus establishing two distinct and unique traditions of grace. European culture, rooted in Christianity, is based on the attempt to forge a unity between these two traditions; a unity that always remained precarious and in need of constant renewals, in the forms of reforms and renascences. The most important such period of renewal was the Italian Renaissance, which started in the Duecento, combining «rebirth» and reform, and ending in the liminal crisis around 1500. Central for this project was an attempt to unify the three meanings of grace. The failure of the Renaissance as a project led to its fragmentation into Protestant predestination (Weber), court society etiquette (Elias) and the disciplinary institutions of the modern state (Foucault); or the rise of modernity. The argument implies that the crisis produced by modern nihilism can only be ended by a return to the spirit of the Renaissance project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]