Comparative-Historical Methods

Using multiple data sources and methods, this book involves a micro-historical analysis of the nature of change and stability in homicide situations over time. It focuses on the homicide situation as the unit of analysis, and explores similarities and differences in the context of homicide for different social groups. For example, using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we investigate whether various social groups (e.g., men vs women, teenagers vs adults, strangers vs intimates, Blacks vs Whites) kill under qualitatively different circumstances and, if so, what are the characteristics of these unique profiles. The analysis of over 400,000 US homicides is supplemented with qualitative analysis of narrative accounts of homicide events to more fully investigate the structure and process underlying these lethal situations. Our findings of unique and common homicide situations across different time periods and social groups are then discussed in terms of their implications for criminologica

Using multiple data sources and methods, this book involves a micro-historical analysis of the nature of change and stability in homicide situations over time. It focuses on the homicide situation as the unit of analysis, and explores similarities and differences in the context of homicide for different social groups. For example, using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we investigate whether various social groups (e.g., men vs women, teenagers vs adults, strangers vs intimates, Blacks vs Whites) kill under qualitatively different circumstances and, if so, what are the characteristics of these unique profiles. The analysis of over 400,000 US homicides is supplemented with qualitative analysis of narrative accounts of homicide events to more fully investigate the structure and process underlying these lethal situations. Our findings of unique and common homicide situations across different time periods and social groups are then discussed in terms of their implications for criminologica

Prodigious Birds brings together the entire field of moa-related research, some 150 years of enquiry. The moa was a large flightless bird, hunted into extinction by the Maori tribes of New Zealand before the arrival of Europeans. Atholl Anderson brings an historical perspective to the development of moa research and its formative debates, analytical methods and results, reviewing evidence from palaeontology, biology, archaeology, ethnography and history.

This 2003 book provides a rigorous introduction to the theory of complex angular momenta, based on the methods of field theory. It comprises an English translation of the series of lectures given by V. N. Gribov in 1969, when the physics of high-energy hadron interactions was being created. Besides their historical significance, these lectures contain material which is highly relevant to research today. The basic physical results and the approaches Gribov developed are now being rediscovered in an alternative context: in the microscopic theory of hadrons provided by quantum chromodynamics. The ideas and calculation techniques presented in this book are useful for analysing high-energy hadron scattering phenomena, deep inelastic lepton-hadron scattering, the physics of heavy ion collisions, kinetic phenomena in phase transitions, and will be instrumental in the analysis of electroweak processes at the next-generation particle accelerators, such as LHC and TESLA.

This resource for educators describes an assortment of methods for teaching Proust's fiction and criticism. Several contributions place Proust's work within its historical and social context, while ot

Why did modern states and economies develop first in the peripheral and late-coming culture of Europe? This historical puzzle looms behind every study of industrialization and economic development. In this analytical and comparative work Eric Jones sees the economic condition forming where natural environments and political systems meet: Europe's economic rise is explained as a favoured interaction between them, contrasting with the frustrating pattern of their interplay in the Ottoman empire, India and China. For the third edition Professor Jones has added a new Preface and Afterword.

This book presents an approach to introductory graduate courses on atomic structure. The author's approach utilizes conceptually powerful semiclassical modeling methods, and demonstrates the degree to which the Maslov-indexed EBK quantization elucidates the quantum mechanical formulation of level energies and lifetimes. It merges this with an update and extension of semiempirical data systematizations developed by Bengt Edlén to describe complex atoms, and adapts them to include the specification of lifetimes. The text emphasizes the historical basis of the nomenclature and methodologies of spectroscopy. However, interaction mechanisms are presented deductively, based on quantum mechanical and field theoretical models, rather than tracing their indirect paths of discovery. Many worked examples provide applications to areas such as astrophysics, hyperfine structure, and coherent anisotropic excitation. The book presents a firm foundation for specialists in atomic physics, as well as a c

This book is the first detailed examination on a comparative basis of the economic and political relations between the bishops and their cathedral clergy in England during the century and a half after the Conquest. In particular, it is a study of the structure and historical development of the mensal endowments and the redistribution of wealth which led, in the course of time, to the establishment of the chapter as a largely independent body with substantial political power. A description of the constitutional importance of the mensa and its treatment in recent scholarly writing is followed by a discussion of property rights and liberties in the church and the role of the bishop in ecclesiastical and civil government. The core of the book consists of an analysis based on contemporary sources of the episcopal and capitular organisation in each of the ten monastic and seven secular sees.

This book presents an approach to introductory graduate courses on atomic structure. The author's approach utilizes conceptually powerful semiclassical modeling methods, and demonstrates the degree to which the Maslov-indexed EBK quantization elucidates the quantum mechanical formulation of level energies and lifetimes. It merges this with an update and extension of semiempirical data systematizations developed by Bengt Edlén to describe complex atoms, and adapts them to include the specification of lifetimes. The text emphasizes the historical basis of the nomenclature and methodologies of spectroscopy. However, interaction mechanisms are presented deductively, based on quantum mechanical and field theoretical models, rather than tracing their indirect paths of discovery. Many worked examples provide applications to areas such as astrophysics, hyperfine structure, and coherent anisotropic excitation. The book presents a firm foundation for specialists in atomic physics, as well as a c

Nineteen American academics and researchers contribute ten chapters examining community-level issues and epidemiologic methods used in community-based health research. Coverage includes an historical

In this 2002 textbook, Andrea Colli gives a historical and comparative perspective on family business, examining through time the different relationships within family businesses and among family enterprises, inside different political and institutional contexts. He compares the performance of family businesses with that of other economic organizations, and looks at how these enterprises have contributed to the evolution of contemporary industrial capitalism. Central to his discussion are the reasons for both the decline and persistence of family business, how it evolved historically, the different forms it has taken over time, and how it has contributed to the growth of single economies. The book summarises previous research into family business, and situates many aspects of family business - such as their strategies, contribution, failure and decline - in an economic, social, political and institutional context. It will be of key interest to students of economic history and business

This book gives a historical and comparative perspective on family business.

This volume presents a shared effort to apply a general historical-institutionalist approach to the problem of assessing institutional change in the wake of communism's collapse in Europe. It brings together a number of leading senior and junior scholars with outstanding reputations as specialists in postcommunism and comparative politics to address central theoretical and empirical issues involved in the study of postcommunism. The authors address such questions as how historical 'legacies' of the communist regime be defined, how their impact can be measured in methodologically rigorous ways, and how the effects of temporal and spatial context can be taken into account in empirical research on the region. Taken as a whole, the volume makes an important contribution to the growing literature by utilizing the comparative historical method to study key problems of world politics.

This volume presents a shared effort to apply a general historical-institutionalist approach to the problem of assessing institutional change in the wake of communism's collapse in Europe. It brings together a number of leading senior and junior scholars with outstanding reputations as specialists in postcommunism and comparative politics to address central theoretical and empirical issues involved in the study of postcommunism. The authors address such questions as how historical 'legacies' of the communist regime be defined, how their impact can be measured in methodologically rigorous ways, and how the effects of temporal and spatial context can be taken into account in empirical research on the region. Taken as a whole, the volume makes an important contribution to the growing literature by utilizing the comparative historical method to study key problems of world politics.

Constraints are everywhere: most computational problems can be described in terms of restrictions imposed on the set of possible solutions, and constraint programming is a problem-solving technique that works by incorporating those restrictions in a programming environment. It draws on methods from combinatorial optimisation and artificial intelligence, and has been successfully applied in a number of fields from scheduling, computational biology, finance, electrical engineering and operations research through to numerical analysis. This textbook for upper-division students provides a thorough and structured account of the main aspects of constraint programming. The author provides many worked examples that illustrate the usefulness and versatility of this approach to programming, as well as many exercises throughout the book that illustrate techniques, test skills and extend the text. Pointers to current research, extensive historical and bibliographic notes, and a comprehensive list

First published in 2003, Birds, Scythes and Combines provides an historical perspective to changes in farmland bird populations in Britain over the past 250 years. Despite the scale of change in habitats and agricultural methods in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, early avifaunas show that farmland birds were little affected. Specialised species of fen and marsh were lost, often as much to persecution as habitat destruction, but farmland birds benefited from the appearance of extensive new resources which aided their adaptation to the altered habitats created by the new farming methods. In addition, many old permanent grass habitats were little altered, leaving a major reservoir of important habitats unchanged. By contrast, more modern farming methods, with changes in grassland management, in herbicide use and in harvesting methods particularly, have led to a collapse in the diversity of farmland and a consequent steep decline in the population size of a high proportion of

Socially maintained behavioural traditions in non-human species hold great interest for biologists, anthropologists and psychologists. This book treats traditions in non-human species as biological phenomena that are amenable to the comparative methods of inquiry used in contemporary biology. Chapters in the first section define behavioural traditions, and indicate how they can arise in non-human species, how widespread they may be, how they may be recognized and how we can study them. The second part summarizes cutting-edge research programmes seeking to identify traditions in diverse taxa in contributions from leading researchers in this area. The book ends with a comparison and evaluation of the alternative theoretical formulations and their applications presented in the book, and lays out recommendations for future research building on the most promising evidence and lines of thinking. The Biology of Traditions will be essential reading for students and researchers in the fields of

This text discusses the pathophysiological and anatomical concepts of Oriental medicine including a detailed review of diagnostic methods, historical background, and concepts essential to the practice

This book offers the first detailed comparative study of the seven best-documented early civilizations: ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, Shang China, the Aztecs and adjacent peoples in the Valley of Mexico, the Classic Maya, the Inka, and the Yoruba. Unlike previous studies, equal attention is paid to similarities and differences in their sociopolitical organization, economic systems, religion, and culture. Many of this study's findings are surprising and provocative. Agricultural systems, technologies, and economic behaviour turn out to have been far more diverse than was expected. These findings and many others challenge not only current understandings of early civilizations but also the theoretical foundations of modern archaeology and anthropology. The key to understanding early civilizations lies not in their historical connections but in what they can tell us about similarities and differences in human behaviour.

The International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, 2nd Edition encompasses the full range of the contemporary field of linguistics, including historical, comparative, formal, mathematical, functional, and

This volume examines comparatively the views and principles of seven prominent ethical traditions on one of the most pressing issues of modern politics - the making and unmaking of state and national boundaries. The traditions represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, natural law, Confucianism, liberalism and international law. Each contributor, an expert within one of these traditions, shows how that tradition can handle the five dominant methods of altering state and national boundaries: conquest, settlement, purchase, inheritance and secession. Written by a distinguished group of international specialists this volume is unique in providing both in-depth normative and comparative perspectives on a troubling question that will offer readers real insight into inter-tradition conflict. Those readers will range from upper-level undergraduates to scholars in such fields as philosophy, political science, international relations and comparative religion.

This volume examines comparatively the views and principles of seven prominent ethical traditions on one of the most pressing issues of modern politics - the making and unmaking of state and national boundaries. The traditions represented are Judaism, Christianity, Islam, natural law, Confucianism, liberalism and international law. Each contributor, an expert within one of these traditions, shows how that tradition can handle the five dominant methods of altering state and national boundaries: conquest, settlement, purchase, inheritance and secession. Written by a distinguished group of international specialists this volume is unique in providing both in-depth normative and comparative perspectives on a troubling question that will offer readers real insight into inter-tradition conflict. Those readers will range from upper-level undergraduates to scholars in such fields as philosophy, political science, international relations and comparative religion.

This book explains the background and rationale of the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's notorious attack on Isaac Newton's classic theory of white light and colors. Though the merits of Goethe's color science, as advanced in his massive Zur Farbenlehre, have often been acknowledged, it has been almost unanimously proclaimed invalid as physics. How could Goethe have been so mistaken? In his book, Dennis Sepper shows that the condemnation of Goethe's attacks on Newton has been based on erroneous assumptions about the history of Newton's theory and the methods and goals of Goethe's color science. By illuminating the historical background and the experimental, methodological, and philosophical aspects of Goethe's work, the author shows that his color theory is in an important sense genuinely physical and that, as simultaneously poet, scientist, historian, and philosopher, Goethe managed to anticipate important twentieth-century research not only in the history and philosophy of sci

This book analyzes, with unprecedented breadth and coverage, the development, maturation, growth, and sudden decline of a distinctive, regional urban economic system that developed along the upper Mississippi River north of St. Louis during the middle third of the nineteenth century. Between 1820 and the Civil War the upper Mississippi River valley was at the center of national and international attention. At the edge of the northern frontier, this area, known as 'The Great West,' was the destination of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the East and from northern Europe. To many, its rich lands, temperate climate, and vast rivers offered an opportunity to establish a better life, as well as a chance to enter, if desired, the mainstream of American life. Drawing from a variety of methods used in historical geography, economic history, systems analysis, and social and urban history, Timothy Mahoney analyzes how early settlement patterns were affected by experience, climate, and ge

The role which narrative discourse plays in the writing of history is an area of increasing interest to historians and literary theorists, resulting in some of the most stimulating and controversial historiographical work in recent years. The rhetoric of historical representation represents one of the first attempts to carry out a sustained textual analysis of historiographical practice. Ann Rigney focusses on three celebrated nineteenth-century histories of the French Revolution, written by Alphonse de Lamartine, Jules Michelet and Louis Blanc. What distinguishes her account is the sensitivity and sophistication with which she handles the semiotic issues each text raises. She shows how a greater understanding of the specific features of historical narration can be achieved through a comparative analysis of the different representations of a common event. This fresh new perspective on a long-standing historiographical debate brings into relief the ways in which the narrative medium can

"An impressive compendium of varying but related methods of understanding the war through historical archaeology.? Readers willing to expend some effort will come away with a better understanding of t

The Handbook of Historical Linguistics provides a detailed account of the numerous issues, methods, and results that characterize current work in historical linguistics, the area of linguistics most d

This book is a unique comparative study of two of the very greatest figures in modern architecture - Le Corbusier and Alvar Aalto. In assessing the historical, personal and intellectual influences of

This book brings together the essential ideas and methods behind applications of variational theory in theoretical physics and chemistry. The emphasis is on understanding physical and computational applications of variational methodology rather than on rigorous mathematical formalism. The text begins with an historical survey of familiar variational principles in classical mechanics and optimization theory, then proceeds to develop the variational principles and formalism behind current computational methodology for bound and continuum quantum states of interacting electrons in atoms, molecules, and condensed matter. It covers multiple-scattering theory, including a detailed presentation of contemporary methodology for electron-impact rotational and vibrational excitation of molecules. The book ends with an introduction to the variational theory of relativistic fields. Ideal for graduate students and researchers in any field that uses variational methodology, this book is particularly

PRACTICAL METHODOLOGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCHSince all research is in a sense comparative, it is sometimes argued that methods and requirements remain the same, no matter what country or nationa

In a rural community in Southern Ethiopia, there are two types of rituals performed by the same people. Historical evidence suggests that one has shown remarkable stability over the years, while the other has undergone massive transformations. External factors are the same, so how is this to be explained? In this 2002 book, Dena Freeman focuses on ethnographical and historical data from the Gamo Highlands of Southern Ethiopia to tackle the question of cultural change and transformation. She uses a comparative perspective and contrasts the continuity in sacrificial rituals with the rapid divergence and differentiation in initiations. Freeman argues that although external change drives internal cultural transformation, the way in which it does is greatly influenced by the structural organization of the cultural systems themselves. This insight leads to a rethinking of the analytic tension between structure and agency that is at the heart of contemporary anthropological theory.

This book is the first in a three-volume history of Mexico, a major work that conveys the full sweep of Mexican history in all its social, economic, and political diversity. Volume 1 charts the development of Mesoamerica from roughly 25,000 BC down to the Spanish Conquest in 1519–21. Analysing the principal periods and ethnic groups - Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec, Teotihuacano, and Aztec - Alan Knight seeks to explain the basic processes of pre-conquest history: the formation of states and social hierarchies, the rise and fall of empires, the role of religion, 'markets', migration and ecology, patterns of settlement and consequent regional differentiation. Clear, comprehensive, and gracefully written, Knight's analysis illustrates the rich diversity of Mesoamerican history, while locating that history within a broader, comparative framework of historical change. The book concludes with the trauma of the conquest, the destruction of the Aztec empire, and the birth of colonial New Spain.

The combination of detailed technical studies with art historical insight sheds new light on the life, oeuvre, and working methods of two great Italian Renaissance masters: Masolino and Masaccio.A tea

Making History Count introduces the main quantitative methods used in historical research. The emphasis is on intuitive understanding and application of the concepts, rather than formal statistics; no knowledge of mathematics beyond simple arithmetic is required. The techniques are illustrated by applications in social, political, demographic and economic history. Students will learn to read and evaluate the application of the quantitative methods used in many books and articles, and to assess the historical conclusions drawn from them. They will also see how quantitative techniques can open up new aspects of an enquiry, and supplement and strengthen other methods of research. This textbook will encourage students to recognize the benefits of using quantitative methods in their own research projects. The text is clearly illustrated with tables, graphs and diagrams, leading the student through key topics. Additional support includes five specific historical data-sets, available from the

The French Revolution strongly influenced the historical and political thought of nineteenth-century Britain. This study of the historiography of the Revolution demonstrates the successive stages of British opinion, and their relationship to other historical developments. Dr Ben-Israel examines the work of many English historians and thinkers who reflected on the French Revolution, and looks in particular detail at the work of those whose studies of the Revolution figure most prominently in this body of writings. Sinyth, Carlyle, Allson, Croker, Acton and others are considered both as individual writers and as part of a tradition. The author shows that the English historians had certain common aims and methods and above all shared a political point of view, so they can legitimately be grouped together to form a school. This book should be of particular interest to specialists in the French Revolution, historians of British public and political opinion, and students of historiographical

This book is an account of the battles fought by Judas Maccabeus between 166 and 160 B.C. against the forces of the Seleucids during the revolt of the Jews against domination by the Seleucid empire. It reexamines the accepted assessments of Judas Maccabeus' activities and achievements and seeks to reconstruct the course of the military and political events of his time. Part I examines the composition and strength of the armies on both sides, their armaments and operating methods, and discusses the extent of Judas Maccabeus' success. Following an introduction evaluating the Jewish writings from all points of view, Part II gives detailed accounts of the battles, including the terrain and the tactics employed, analysing and commenting on the relevant narratives from the Book of Maccabees. Numerous appendices discuss individual problems vital to the reconstruction of the historical developments.

Welfare Rights and Social Policy provides an introduction to social policy through a discussion of welfare rights, which are explored in historical, comparative and critical contexts.At a time when th

Much of ancient history can only be written thanks to evidence supplied by Plutarch. His historical methods and qualities were for long subjected to little systematic analysis. However, in recent deca

The main objective of this 2002 book is to show that behind the bewildering diversity of historical speculative episodes it is possible to find hidden regularities, thus preparing the way for a unified theory of market speculation. Speculative bubbles require the study of various episodes in order for a comparative perspective to be obtained and the analysis developed in this book follows a few simple but unconventional ideas. Investors are assumed to exhibit the same basic behavior during speculative episodes whether they trade stocks, real estate, or postage stamps. The author demonstrates how some of the basic concepts of dynamical system theory, such as the notions of impulse response, reaction times and frequency analysis, play an instrumental role in describing and predicting speculative behavior. This book will serve as a useful introduction for students of econophysics, and readers with a general interest in economics as seen from the perspective of physics.

Republicanism and Liberalism in America and the German States represents the cooperative effort of a group of American and German scholars to move the historical debate on Republicanism and Liberalism to a new stage. Previously, the relationship between Republican and Liberal ideas, concepts and world views has been discussed in the context of American revolutionary and late eighteenth-century history. While the German states did not experience successful revolutions like those in North America and France, Republican and Liberal ideas and 'language' deeply affected German political thinking and culture, especially in the southern states. The essays published in this book expand the time frame of the debate into the first half of the nineteenth century, applying an innovative and comparative German-American perspective. By systematically studying the similarities and differences in the understanding of Republicanism and Liberalism in the United States and German states, the collection s