Badania porównawcze w politologii. Zagadnienia metodologiczne
Comparative researches in political science. Some of methodological issues

Summary/Abstract: The comparative method is viewed as fundamental approach in political research. Some of scholars held even that all studies in political science are comparative. In this article I discuss some of methodological issues of comparative research. I begin by an overwiew of theoretical and empirical goals of comparison in the political studies. These goals are the same as theory of politics. I then attempt a question: What do we compare in comparative research? Furthermore, I present two main strategies of research: 1) case-oriented, and 2) variable-oriented research, pointing out their origins in the methodological traditions by M. Weber and È. Durkheim, respectively. Next, I briefly introduce the reader to basic issues of comparative research design, underlining such questions as: number of cases in design, and selection of cases. Finally, I discuss some of the methodological problems of comparative design, distinguishing such problems and fallacies as: too many variables and too few cases, establishing equivalence of theoretical concepts and their empirical indicators, selection bias, spuriousness, and ecological and individualist fallacies. In doing so, I explore recent literature on methodology and research designing in political science.

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