This program of summer institutes in comparative and cross-cultural research will develop software and data files and then offer a three-week (mainly post-doctoral) workshop in the theory, design and methods of comparative and cross-cultural research using anthropological data during three consecutive summers. Issues covered will include comparisons using primary data; within-region versus world-wide comparisons; and diachronic (across-time) versus synchronic (non-historical) comparisons. This activity is important because comparison is the heart of scientific research. Any generalization or explanation of human behavior must be checked against comparative situations to establish and verify the causality involved. Training in the latest developments in comparative research will maintain our scientific capacity at a sophisticated level.
