The volume of comparative research on housing has expanded very significantly during the last two decades, but there is no up-to-date single volume book that deals with the distinct problems that arise from comparative housing research - from its spatial fixity, its dual role as a consumption and investment good, and as the "wobbly pillar" of the welfare state.

This book was published as a special issue of the International Journal of Housing Policy.

1. Introduction: Strengthening the Conceptual and Methodological Foundations of Comparative Housing Research Mark Stephens and Michelle Norris

2. Housing in the Welfare State: Rethinking the Conceptual Foundations of Comparative Housing Policy Analysis Tony Fahey and Michelle Norris

3. Comparative Housing Research: A 'System-Embedded' Approach Mark Stephens

4. A Qualitative Comparative Approach to the Role of Housing Equity in the Life Cycle Marja Elsinga

5. Demystifying Quantitative Methods in Comparative Housing Research: Dispelling the Myth of Black Magic Nick Horsewood

6. Comparative Process Tracing in Housing Studies Bo Bengtsson and Hannu Ruonavaara

7. Ethnography and Comparative Housing Research Richard Ronald

Mark Stephens is Professor of Public Policy at the Institute for Housing, Urban and Real Estate Research, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

Michelle Norris is a senior lecturer in social policy at the School of Applied Social Science, University College Dublin, Ireland.

The editors jointly convene the European Network for Housing Research Working Group on Comparative Housing Policy.