Comparative Historical Analysis and Challenges to Cross-Methodological Dialogue

The Grammar of Time tries to encourage a dialogue among the three strands of comparative historical analysis (CHA), and between CHA and various experimental, quantitative approaches that I label variance-based analysis (VBA). The book joins recent efforts to mix and integrate methods (Goertz and Haggard 2023; Grossmann 2021; Humphreys and Jacobs 2023; Lieberman 2005) to counter the growing methodological fragmentation in the social sciences. But such integration is difficult and requires translating different methodological vernaculars. I am therefore grateful how directly the contributors spoke to the book’s integration efforts. They point out that the book provides both translation assistance and generates translation barriers, thereby allowing me to revisit the book’s goal of facilitating cross-methodological dialogue.