Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: A dynamic example of the politics of comparison has emerged through the evolving interest in examining the course content of comparative and international education. CIECAP – Comparative & International Course Archive Project is dynamic web-based global resource that continues to expand its extensive network of course outline information, bibliographic references, and themes developed in the content of university coursework. CIECAP is actualizing the current phase of its articulated plan through acquisition and uploading of course outlines in comparative education from U.S. universities and overseas institutions of higher education. A coding system has also been integrated into the database to analyze previous and updated information, and set the stage for comparative analysis of factors that may suggest best practices in terms of course content in the teaching of comparative education throughout the world. In 2005 the CIECAP project was formally accepted and endorsed by World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES) and has led to access to associations worldwide belonging to the WCCES. The methodology of CIECAP has created a dynamic opportunity to actualize transnational networking within the politics of comparison, through the pragmatic web-based application of transnational research leading to comparison within the field of comparative and international education.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In Mexico, comparative education is a young field of study. There are some works from the third decade of the last century, but it was until the last two decades when a special interest can be noticed by the number of related publications. Nevertheless, many of the studies that have been published, under the heat of the globalization process, are very much on the line of the empiricism. In Mexico, there is a strong need for training comparativists on the field of education.

In this country, higher education level is integrated by more than two thousand public and private institutions, belonging to four sectors: the technological institutions, the “normal” schools in charge of teacher training, public and private universities. Only in 42 universities (15 public and 27 private) diverse courses related our fields were found.

This paper presents a comparative analysis of these courses: objectives, syllabus contents, academic units, pedagogical approach, reading materials and assessment procedures. Besides the comparative analysis and its conclusions, the paper includes a discussion and some suggestions for training comparativists in education.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Grouping of countries for descriptive and analytic purposes is a pervasive practice in comparative work. This paper explores the implications of the classification of countries for comparative analysis based on the 6-9th UN Crime Surveys for Europe and North America. Categorical Principal Components Analysis (CATPCA) is used to determine empirically the degree to which two popular country classifications reflect a reasonable approach to country grouping. We use the empirical results to improve on these classifications while attempting not to violate the conceptual idea (geographical, geopolitical, cultural) behind these classifications. The results present four country clusters – partially overlapping with existing groupings, but with some interesting modifications – which, in turn appear to reflect reasonable patterns with regard to a small set of socio-economic indicators. Implications of the study are discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Research on women in politics, like most work in political science, gravitates towards large-n statistical analyses or small-n case studies. Employing these conventional techniques, it offers relatively consistent explanations for cross-national differences in the percentage of women elected to national parliaments. This apparent consensus, however, obscures important disagreements among scholars that -- combined with recent empirical developments -- cast doubt on the causal effect of central variables, most notably the role of the electoral system and women's social and economic status in facilitating or undermining women's access to political office. Exploring the possibilities of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this paper outlines the methodological trade-offs involved in analyzing common trends across many cases (the large-n solution), unique trajectories across a few cases (the small-n solution), and causal diversity across a middle range of cases (the medium-n solution).