Sociology: The Comparative Method

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would not do a cross-gender form of
comparison if you wished to expose whether or not homosexuality has always been
feared and looked down upon by most people throughout history. No, rather you
would perform a historical comparison of two or more different societies to see
if these beliefs always existed, or, whether or not this is a newly constructed
belief.
Let's look at little more closely at the above mentioned historical
comparison and see how the comparative method works with a specific example.
There is no question that in today's western society there is a lot of
fear and trepidation towards people who are labeled 'homosexual'. The question
we will attempt to answer however is whether or not it has always been like this
and is this a universal truth.
In ancient Greek societies people had a very different opinion of men
that slept with men. For example, it was considered quite an honor for a family
with a young boy under the age of 10, to be given the privilege on ...

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the sociologist should describe the
various practices, customs and structures that exist in various societies rather
than suggest to people which one is actually the correct belief or the 'real'
truth.
Cross-gender comparisons is another commonly used comparison used to
reveal socially constructed truths. In Carol Gilligan's book 'In a different
voice' we find a fine example of a cross-gender comparison. She states that
most people believe that the majority of people, both men and women, view morale
issues in the same way. However, through empirical data collection, Carol
Gilligan concludes that this is not most often the case. Rather, she states
that men tend to approach moral issues ...

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