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Abstract:
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One of the challenges of social research when we construct objects of knowledge is comparative analysis among countries. International comparative research of diverse territorial realities, whether at the macro-social or micro-social level, is fundamental if we are to assess, deepen and improve our knowledge of social phenomena and draw conclusions with theoretical, methodological and empirical implications. The spatial specificity of social dynamics immersed in a temporal, socio-historical and cultural context obliges us to reflect on this comparability. The need to establish generalisations to construct theoretical models of social behaviour that transcend the singularity of a particular territorial reality means we must offer well-founded theoretical-methodological research proposals. Our proposal in this Special Issue is to address comparative research in the study of social reality, focusing on the construction and use of social indicators in such research among countries (including comparisons between regions or cities). We started out on this path in the context of the European INCASIFootnote1 project that we had the opportunity to run between 2016 and 2019 together with 20 European and Latin American universities. It gave us the chance to exchange ideas and receive interesting contributions through the Research Committee 55 "Social Indicators" at various international meetings: the ISA Congress in July 2018 (Toronto, Canada) and the Mid-term Conference of the RC55 in the context of the 13th Spanish Congress of Sociology, in July 2019 (Valencia, Spain). This special issue describes the journey so far, and one that we are determined to continue through the analysis and study of contributions from a wide variety of researchers that have generated theoretical-methodological reflections with a clear comparative focus (i.e. measurement and study of the same phenomena in different countries) and with well-established empirical bases. |
