Reading History Sideways at the
Social Science History Association Meetings

Beginning at the November 2005 Social Science History Association (SSHA) meetings Arland Thornton and Steven Ruggles have had a series of exchanges devoted to Thornton's book, Reading History Sideways: the Fallacy and Enduring Impact of the Developmental Paradigm on Family Life. In March 2006 Thornton posted a paper of more than 90 pages in response to Ruggles. In March 2006, Ruggles posted a response to Thornton's March response. In April 2006 Thornton posted another paper, which includes his March 2006 paper as an attachment. Thornton's April 2006 paper is entitled "April 2006 Response to Steven Ruggles' Comments and Book Review Concerning Reading History Sideways: The Fallacy and Enduring Impact of the Developmental Paradigm on Family Life." [PDF, 2.4MB]

Ruggles' responses and book review are also available.

It was learned during the SSHA meetings that it might be useful to provide additional documentation of the specific ways in which scholars of the late 1700s and 1800s used reading history sideways from cross-sectional data to reach conclusions about family change in the past that were discovered in the last half of the 1900s to be myths. In response to this feedback, five papers about scholarship in the late 1700s and 1800s have been posted on this website. Each of these papers provides additional documentation of the methodology and data used by scholars during the late 1700s and 1800s. One of these papers, "Descriptions of the Reading History Sideways Method (the Comparative Method) by Scholars During the 1700s and 1800s" provides statements by several scholars from the era about how they used cross sectional data and the reading history sideways method to study social change. The other four papers document the ways that four important family scholars (or groups of scholars) used the developmental paradigm, reading history sideways, and cross-sectional data to make conclusions about family change that were later discovered to be myths. The four papers are respectively about: Robert Malthus, Frederick Le Play, Edward Westermarck, and John Millar and other scholars. These papers are preliminary drafts that have not gone through final proofing and verification. Readers who find errors in the drafts are invited to contact Arland Thornton with that information, so that they can be corrected in future revisions.

The posted papers are as follows:

Arland Thornton. Descriptions of the Reading History Sideways Method (the Comparative Method) by Scholars of the 1700s, 1800s, and 1900s. Working Paper. November 2007. [PDF]

Arland Thornton. Robert Malthus, the Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Myths. Working Paper. December 2005. [PDF]

Arland Thornton. Frederick Le Play, the Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Myths. Working Paper. December 2005. [PDF]

Arland Thornton. Edward Westermarck, the Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and Family Myths. Working Paper. November 2005. [PDF]

Arland Thornton. John Millar and Other Scholars of the 1700s and 1800s Using the Developmental Paradigm, Reading History Sideways, and International Cross-Sectional Data to Reach Conclusions about Changes in Family Relationships and Processes. Working Paper. November 2005. [PDF]

Comments of Other Scholars about Reading History Sideways

Further Information about Thornton's Book, Reading History Sideways