Methodologies for comparative social policy analysis

Ferragina, Emanuele and Deeming, Christopher; Yerkes, Mara A. and Nelson, Kenneth and Nieuwenhuis, Rense, eds. (2022) Methodologies for comparative social policy analysis. In: Changing European Societies. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp. 218-234. ISBN 9781802201710 (https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802201710.00022)

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Abstract

This chapter reviews and takes stock of the research effort and the methodology employed in comparative social policy analysis reported in the Journal of European Social Policy (JESP). We trace the evolution and development of comparative methodology, empirically analysing trends in JESP since the first issue was published in February 1991, while situating comparative analysis within the broader theoretical trends and European social policy debates. We focus on methods and substance, looking at how major techniques and approaches have been applied in comparative social policy over time. The key questions driving our analysis are: What is the scholarly use of comparative methods in social policy over the last three decades? How has the comparative methodology helped us to better understand the role, nature, and outcomes of European social policy? Where is comparative methodology heading for the future? JESP is the leading European journal in the field of social policy (with close ties to ESPAnet), and is therefore well suited for such an empirical review of comparative methodologies for social policy analysis. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight and focus on the main trends in the use of the comparative method, using comparative research articles published in JESP to guide us. The first part sets the scene; it does so by providing an outline of the comparative turn in social policy research, and defines what we mean by the comparative method. For the literature review we have developed a Comparative Journals Database of research articles that includes the work published in JESP, from which data for JESP are extracted to support our analysis set out below. Here we examine how the comparative method has been used in the pages of JESP before going on to consider how the comparative methods helps us to better understand the role, nature, and outcomes of European social policy. We include a qualitative analysis of the comparative articles, and then focus on the methodological characteristics of the most cited comparative articles – the 'greatest hits' of JESP. We conclude by highlighting potential future trends on the basis of our analysis.

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