In social science disciplines such as sociology, political science, geography, and economics, cross-national research is the technique of analyzing an event or process that takes place within a country, while comparing the way that event or process takes place across many different countries. Cross-national research may be qualitative, as in Theda Skocpol's States and Social Revolutions. Alternatively, it may be quantitative, as in Seymour Martin Lipset's research on modernization theory.
Cross-national research is a subject of debate. Some scholars object because this kind of research involves comparing dissimilar countries and cultures, while others argue that cross-national quantitative analysis requires unrealistic assumptions. Others defend the research practice, arguing that it may be problematic but it provides a tool for answering questions that would otherwise be unanswerable.