Comparative Housing Research

Cross-national comparative housing research examines similarities and differences in housing situations in more than one country, and it compares by applying research methods to questions or hypotheses. The aims of comparative research are frequently policy orientated, including searching for ideas about the transferability of policy ideas from one country to another, but they might be, at a more general level, related to a desire to understand how a housing market or system, or part of that market or system operates. This could include understanding how different institutional arrangements contribute to different housing outcomes. The aims could also be technique- or theory-advancement orientated, with comparative methods being used to build new theoretical concepts.