Abstract
Are comparative political scientists divided over the goals, methods, and results of their field? This article attempts to answer this question, drawing on an original survey of US-based political scientists. The main conclusion is that there is relative consensus on the goals of research—comparativists favor broad generalizations and causal inference—but there is also acceptance of a variety of methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, in pursuing this goal. Comparativists, however, show less agreement on substantive findings in the areas of democracy and democratic politics, economy and society, and political institutions. Interestingly, generational differences are relatively infrequent, but gender differences on issues such as rational choice and causal inference are more prominent, possibly contributing to gendered citation bias. The findings suggest that comparative politics may not have accumulated a large amount of agreed-upon knowledge, but that there is substantial agreement on the path forward.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | International Political Science Review |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - Jan 1 2019 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Comparative politics
- expert survey
- methodology
- political scientists
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Sociology and Political Science
- Political Science and International Relations
Cite this
}
Consensus and dissensus in comparative politics : Do comparativists agree on the goals, methods, and results of the field? / Roberts, Andrew L.
In: International Political Science Review, 01.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Consensus and dissensus in comparative politics
T2 - Do comparativists agree on the goals, methods, and results of the field?
AU - Roberts, Andrew L
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Are comparative political scientists divided over the goals, methods, and results of their field? This article attempts to answer this question, drawing on an original survey of US-based political scientists. The main conclusion is that there is relative consensus on the goals of research—comparativists favor broad generalizations and causal inference—but there is also acceptance of a variety of methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, in pursuing this goal. Comparativists, however, show less agreement on substantive findings in the areas of democracy and democratic politics, economy and society, and political institutions. Interestingly, generational differences are relatively infrequent, but gender differences on issues such as rational choice and causal inference are more prominent, possibly contributing to gendered citation bias. The findings suggest that comparative politics may not have accumulated a large amount of agreed-upon knowledge, but that there is substantial agreement on the path forward.
AB - Are comparative political scientists divided over the goals, methods, and results of their field? This article attempts to answer this question, drawing on an original survey of US-based political scientists. The main conclusion is that there is relative consensus on the goals of research—comparativists favor broad generalizations and causal inference—but there is also acceptance of a variety of methodological approaches, both qualitative and quantitative, in pursuing this goal. Comparativists, however, show less agreement on substantive findings in the areas of democracy and democratic politics, economy and society, and political institutions. Interestingly, generational differences are relatively infrequent, but gender differences on issues such as rational choice and causal inference are more prominent, possibly contributing to gendered citation bias. The findings suggest that comparative politics may not have accumulated a large amount of agreed-upon knowledge, but that there is substantial agreement on the path forward.
KW - Comparative politics
KW - expert survey
KW - methodology
KW - political scientists
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071442406&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85071442406&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0192512119858370
DO - 10.1177/0192512119858370
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071442406
JO - International Political Science Review
JF - International Political Science Review
SN - 0192-5121
ER -