Historical comparisons: Testing psychological hypotheses with cross-era data (1)

Cross-era research, an approach which involves developing and testing social science hypotheses in terms of historical time-series data, is first discussed as regards its relationship to other comparative research approaches. Some examples of cross-era research in psychology are described. Special problems that arise in cross-era research, and proposed methods of coping with them, are discussed as regards each of the three successive phases of research: creative hypothesis formation problems; difficulties that arise in the hypothesis-testing phase; and problems that emerge during the phase of communicating and utilizing the findings.