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🧩 “Comparative Method is Not a Method; It is Sociology Itself” — Explained

1. Why this statement arises

Auguste Comte, Émile Durkheim, and later scholars argued that Sociology is born out of comparison. Unlike natural sciences (which rely on laboratory experiments), society cannot be placed in a controlled lab setting.

Therefore, comparison becomes the primary way to identify patterns, causes, and general laws of social life.

Hence, some sociologists argue that comparison is not just one method among many—Sociology itself is a comparative discipline.

2. Why Comparative Method is Considered More Than Just a “Method”

(i) Foundation of Sociological Reasoning

Sociology exists because societies differ.

Without variation across societies, time periods, cultures, or groups, there would be nothing to theorize.

• Marx compares modes of production.
• Weber compares world religions to understand capitalism.
• Durkheim compares suicide rates across societies.
• Lévi-Strauss compares kinship systems.

Hence, comparison is the foundation of sociological explanation.

(ii) Necessary Tool to Discover Social Laws

Durkheim argued: