Cross-national comparisons of educational achievement rely upon each participating country collecting nationally representative data. While obtaining high response rates is a key part of reaching this goal, other potentially important factors may also be at play. This paper focuses on one such issue--exclusion rates--which has received relatively…

Advances in neuro-technology provide new insights into how individual students learn in educational contexts. However, applying it poses challenges for teachers in natural settings. This paper presents an example of the use and applicability of eye-tracking technology in Higher Education. We worked with a sample of 20 students from three…

In this article, we examine whether cross-national studies disclose enough information for independent researchers to evaluate the validity and reliability of the findings (evaluation transparency) or to perform a direct replication (replicability transparency). The first contribution is theoretical. We develop a heuristic theoretical model…

One overarching question in scholarly methodological discussions on qualitative comparative approaches concerns how it is possible to compare and generalise deep insider knowledge across (nationally) specific contexts. The aim of this article is to propose a research strategy that both facilitates the comparison and theorisation of such knowledge…

To explain country differences in an analytical or structural dependent variable, the application of a macro-micro-model containing contextual hypotheses is necessary. Our methodological study examines whether empirical studies apply such a model. We propose that a theoretical base for country differences is well described in multilevel studies,…

National average happiness and the difference in happiness between women and men are positively correlated in European countries. This study focuses on this cross-country relationship and tests (1) whether, after controlling for socio-economic factors, the correlation is attributed to their direct relationship, or, alternatively, explained by the…

Many see trust as an important social resource for the welfare of individuals as well as nations. It is therefore important to be able to identify trust and explain its sources. Cross-country survey analysis has been an important tool in this respect, and often one single variable is used to identify social trust understood as trust in strangers,…

Using data from national socio-economic panel surveys in Australia, Britain and Germany, this paper analyzes the effects of individual preferences and choices on subjective well-being (SWB). It is shown that, in all three countries, preferences and choices relating to life goals/values, partner's personality, hours of work, social participation…

This article introduces the special issue, which focuses on the ways in which educational institutions in Europe and North America are responding to the growing number of children of immigrants entering schools and universities. It discusses the ways in which the needs of children of immigrants differ from those of native-born students, and the…

Discusses major methodological advances of the past 20 years within social anthropology. The advances fall into three broad areas: comparative studies and large-scale multicultural and holocultural investigations; cognitive anthropology, encompassing formal analysis and decision processes; and studies of intracultural diversity. (Author/KC)

Asserting that the development of educational theory requires scientific study based on comparative data, the author analyzes the objections to data comparison between societies and finds this to be a nonissue. This is the Presidential Address, delivered to the Comparative and International Education Society, Mexico City, March 1978. (SJL)

Compares various research techniques used by anthropologists and historians to explain the past and to provide insights into other cultures. Employs examples from various historical periods and cultural studies (particularly the enlightenment) to show that uniform, unmediated objectivity across cultures is neither necessary nor desirable. (DB)

Analyzes the concept of comparison as a methodological problem in cross-cultural studies and comparative education. Outlines five types of relationships that rely on equivalence or comparability. Discusses the questions of whether the concepts under comparison correspond, how to measure correspondence, and how to resolve linguistic difficulties.…

Conducting observational research in a cross-cultural context invokes a unique set of difficulties. This paper describes sources of bias and threats to validity that are specific to cross-cultural research. It describes problems of cross-cultural research designs for descriptive studies, comparative research, and experimental research and outlines…

Argues that while the study of comparative slavery deals with Blacks, it has so far, very little to do with Black or Afro-American history; the focus has been almost entirely upon the institutions and slave systems of the planters, and little attention is given to the lives or longings of the African population caught up in slavery and New World…