New Standards for Historical Homicide Research

Abstract

Historians of violence now have dozens, even hundreds, of high quality homicide rates for much of the Western world. We are now in a position which would, by custom, demand the beginning of synthesis and generalization. Such efforts are of merit and should continue, but it is time that we turn back to much more careful empirical research. Our substantive gains should give us the confidence to raise even higher the quality of our research. Simply put, if refined research efforts confirm previous work, this is comforting. On the other hand, if they change or modify findings, we should welcome the new results and rethink our big questions and analyses