METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN COMPARATIVE CROSS-NATIONAL RESEARCH

This article reviews the main alternative logics ('theory evaluation' and 'substantive illumination') that underlie comparative cross-nation al research. The basic assumptions that underpin individual-level and aggregate-level comparisons are described and the sort of measurement problems typically encountered in cross-national analysis are examined . It is argued that, even if the researcher's primary purpose is 'theo ry evaluation', comparative analysis is at its most productive when it is solidly grounded in a thorough appreciation of the subtleties and complexities that characterize the different political systems that ar e being compared.