CROSS-CULTURAL ANALYSISlong history of such collaboration. This has in-
volved the development of a common agenda
(official and unofficial) and the pursuit of a com-
mon program of research by scholars around the
globe (Ganzeboom, Treiman, and Ultee 1991). In
addition to these developments, the growth of
international data sets and their ready availability
due to the new technologies such as the Internet
are also grounds for optimism regarding cross-
cultural research.
Despite growing international and multi-disci-
pline cooperation and recognition of the impor-
tance of comparative research, it is still fair to say
that cross-cultural analysis remains at the periph-
ery of American sociology and social psychology.
Although there has been some reversal of the
growing trend toward narrow specialization over
the last ten years, such specialization is still appar-
ent in the nature of publications and the training
of graduate students in these disciplines. There is a
clear need to instill a healthy skepticism regarding
the cultural relativity of a great deal of theory and
method in social psychology in future scholars.
Only then will future sociologists and social psy-
chologists come to appreciate fully the potential of
cross-cultural analysis.
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