Concise encyclopedia of comparative sociology

The Concise Encyclopedia of Comparative Sociology presents the current state of knowledge in comparative sociology for students, scholars, and the educated lay public. The major aim of comparative sociological research is to identity similarities and differences among societies, studying variation across both geographical regions and historical periods. This volume is divided into six broad categories: Theoretical and methodological issues in comparing societies, comparative historical sociology, comparing institutions and social structures, comparing social processes, comparing sociologists. Nearly 60 essays written by distinguished experts in their fields focus on the first five categories, while the biographical section contains 41 biographies of both classical and contemporary sociologists who have made major contributions to comparative sociology. -- from back cover.