139 Theory, Method, and Data in Comparative Criminology by Gregory J. Howard, Graeme Newman, and William Alex Pridemore The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the recently rejuvenated field of comparative criminology. It begins by considering the context and history of comparative criminology and continues by outlining the contemporary comparative perspective. After identifying s...

In recent years, a widespread consensus has emerged about the necessity of establishing bridges between quantitative and qualitative approaches to empirical research in political science. In this article, we discuss the use of the synthetic control method as a way to bridge the quantitative/qualitative divide in comparative politics. The synthetic control method provides a systematic way to cho...

We explored the impact of phylogeny shape on the results of interspecific statistical analyses incorporating phylogenetic information. In most phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs), the phylogeny can be represented as a relationship matrix, and the hierarchical nature of interspecific phylogenies translates into a distinctive blocklike matrix that can be described by its eigenvectors (topolog...