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Comparative sociology involves comparison of the social processes betweennation states, or across different types of society (for examplecapitalist andsocialist). There are two main approaches to comparative sociology: some seek similarity across different countries and cultures whereas others seek variance. For example,structural Marxists have attempted to use comparative methods to discover the general processes that underlie apparently different social orderings in different societies. The danger of this approach is that the different social contexts are overlooked in the search for supposed universal structures.[1]
One sociologist who employed comparative methods to understand variance wasMax Weber, whose studies attempted to show how differences between cultures explained the different social orderings that had emerged (see for exampleThe Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism andSociology of religion).[1]
There is some debate within sociology regarding whether the label of 'comparative' is suitable.Emile Durkheim argued inThe Rules of Sociological Method (1895) that all sociological research was in fact comparative since social phenomenon are always held to be typical, representative or unique, all of which imply some sort of comparison. In this sense, all sociological analysis is comparative and it has been suggested that what is normally referred to as comparative research, may be more appropriately calledcross-national research.[1]
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