New Directions in the Study of General Social Attitudes: Trend and Cross-National Perspectives

The importance of trend and cross-national studies on general social attitudes has become widely recognized. However, very little published trend and cross-national data or studies on general social attitudes, which persistently use identical survey systems, have been identified. Up to now, despite some methodological limitations, the studies published in recent years have provided an encouraging base for the future of trend and cross-national studies of general social attitudes. Cooperation will be essential for future studies as they apply various improved methodologies not only to existing trend and cross-national data but also to new survey data collection procedures. Like the development of cohort analysis for trend studies of general social attitudes, as well as the development of correspondence analysis for cross-national studies of general social attitudes, combinations of both cohort and correspondence analyses have been proposed.

Finally, it is suggested that for both trend and cross-national studies of general social attitudes, it is better not only to develop the hard-mode approach but also to develop the soft-mode approach by fully utilizing the hard-mode approach. Conducting this type of research in the context of trend and cross-national analyses will enable empirical analyses to verify existing sociological theories as well as contribute to the establishment of new or modified theories.