Methods of Comparative Education

Back to: Comparative Education B.ed Notes, M.A Notes, IGNOU Notes and Graduation Notes

Scientific method of Comparative Analysis

George Bereday is considered one of the pioneers of comparative methods in education.

According to Kidd (1975), Bereday’s method is one of the best-known systematized approaches to comparative education, in which an educational system is viewed as part of a larger cultural context.

Bereday advised comparative educators to accustom themselves with the culture of the societies they wished to study and guard against their own cultural or personal biases. 

Descriptive method in comparative education

In this stage, instructional data from various nations selected for the study is collected and presented using tables and graphs. The data should be presented in descriptive form to facilitate further analysis at later stages.

Interpretation method in comparative education

This stage involves an analysis of the facts using methods of different social sciences.

For example, the researcher could use perspectives from sociology to explain the varying attitudes of pupils towards social science studies.

Factors in the contextual background, such as historical, geographical, socioeconomic, and political factors, can be used to explain the issues that have shaped the educational system.

Juxtaposition method in comparative education

In this stage, preliminary comparisons of facts and findings, concepts and principles are used to classify data and process the data. The criteria for comparability are also set out during this stage.

Comparison method in comparative education

This is the final stage of Bereday’s comparative method and it involves a final fusion of data from other countries for the purpose of comparison and to derive plans for action. The step also involves hypothesis testing.