方法对比

	比较解释性研究	调查研究
领域	研究设计	研究设计
方法族	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
起源年份	1843 (Mill); contemporary social-science formalisation 1971–1987	Late 19th century; methodologically systematised 1940s–1960s
提出者	John Stuart Mill (methods of agreement and difference, 1843); formalised in social science by Arend Lijphart and Charles Ragin	Francis Galton, Charles Booth, and early social statisticians; systematised by Paul Lazarsfeld and colleagues at Columbia in the 1940s
类型	Observational explanatory research design	Quantitative (and mixed) non-experimental design
开创性文献	Ragin, C. C. (1987). The Comparative Method: Moving Beyond Qualitative and Quantitative Strategies. University of California Press. ISBN: 978-0520063167	Fowler, F. J. (2014). Survey Research Methods (5th ed.). Sage Publications. ISBN: 978-1452259000
别名	comparative explanation, explanatory comparative design, cross-case explanatory research, comparative causal analysis	survey methodology, questionnaire research, survey design, survey study
相关	4	4
摘要	Comparative explanatory research is an observational design that systematically examines two or more groups, nations, organisations, or time points in order to explain why differences in outcomes occur. Rather than merely describing variation, it seeks causal or contributing mechanisms by holding some conditions constant while contrasting others — drawing on Mill's classical methods of agreement and difference.	Survey research is a quantitative (and sometimes mixed-methods) design in which a researcher collects standardised self-report data from a sample drawn from a defined population, using a questionnaire or structured interview. It is the dominant non-experimental strategy for describing population characteristics, estimating prevalence, mapping attitude distributions, and testing bivariate or multivariate associations across social, behavioural, and health sciences.