Chapter objectives:

• To identify different approaches to comparative health research at the macro, meso and micro levels
• To consider the relative strengths of exploration, explanation and evaluation in comparative research
• To explore the politics of comparative health research in using evidence from different countries
• To assess strategies for sampling to ensure that the choice of country cases is fit for purpose
• To describe how to tackle challenges of equivalence so data from different countries are comparable
• To indicate how to manage complex comparative data based on typologies of health systems