Process / pipelineDomain-specific humanities/social science

Comparative Historical Archival Research

Comparative historical archival research combines systematic examination of primary archival sources across two or more historical cases — nations, regions, institutions, or time periods — to identify causal patterns, structural similarities, and divergences that single-case histories cannot reveal. It is the method of choice when researchers want to explain why similar or different outcomes emerged across distinct historical contexts using documentary evidence.

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Sources

  1. Skocpol, T. (1979). States and Social Revolutions: A Comparative Analysis of France, Russia, and China. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-0521294997
  2. Mahoney, J., & Thelen, K. (2015). Comparative-historical analysis in contemporary political science. In J. Mahoney & K. Thelen (Eds.), Advances in Comparative-Historical Analysis. Cambridge University Press. link

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Referenced by

ScholarGateComparative Historical Archival Research (Comparative Historical Archival Research). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/field-methods/comparative-historical-archival-research