Abstract

Comparative analysis is a mode of research, that due to its outstanding merits is widely used within many fields of scientific inquiry. Focusing on its application in historical research, this article aims to contribute to a more systematic discussion of some of the methodological strategies associated with this mode of analysis. For this purpose, this article presents first a few typologies regarding the functions and leverages of comparative analysis. In the next step different styles in which comparative method is applied are exemplified, with especial attention paid to the comparative studies of large-scale, macro-level societal changes. This article ends then with a critical discussion of the potentials and limitations of comparison as a methodological strategy of generating historical generalisations.

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