This introductory chapter identifies a longstanding challenge for scholars in non-Western societies: the difficulty of formulating authentic research problems in the social sciences. This problem arises primarily from the cultural embeddedness of social scientific inquiry and the paradigmatic dominance of Western-centric frameworks. Francis L. K. Hsu, through his unique epistemological standpoint as a “marginal man,” transcended the limitations imposed by pseudo-problems and reoriented research agendas based on indigenous cultural systems. He proposed a comparative paradigm centered on “literate civilizations” as the unit of analysis and developed a new theoretical framework integrating ontological, epistemological, and methodological dimensions. At its core are several key conceptual tools—Psychosocial Homeostasis, the Dominant Dyad Hypothesis, and the Secondary Group Hypothesis—which together respond to the methodological constraints of the Culture and Personality School. This chapter offers a systematic review of the historical divergence of sociology, anthropology, and Oriental studies, critically evaluates the Culture and Personality School's strengths and limitations in holistic analysis and variable explanation, and situates Hsu’s theory as a paradigmatic response. It introduces the book’s central research questions and objectives, establishing the theoretical and methodological foundation for the chapters that follow.