ABSTRACT
The terminology governing research which is cross-national is itself a topic for research. The term ‘cross-national’ is taken to refer to research that is descriptive and deductive, whereas comparative research is more analytical and establishes a relationship between micro-and macro-levels (Grootings, 1986, cited in Hantrais, 1999). However, the niceties of the terminological distinctions have not been greatly adhered to in the English-language research literature in which the term ‘cross’ is used ubiquitously (Oyen, 1990, cited in Hantrais, 1999). Rather, as Hantrais discusses, the issue to be considered should be less the ‘cross’ aspect of research, which compares two or more countries, and more the problematisation of the ‘national’ aspect of such research. The implication here is that it is important not to assume that, in focussing on the national level, national differences are necessarily more significant than other cross-cutting differences. Even given the European Union’s integrating influence over the countries included in this study, nations differ significantly, particularly with respect to family and social policies even as their labour markets and economies become more similar. In this study all five countries, though to a lesser extent Norway, hold a common reference point in terms of their membership of the European Union. At the same time, they exhibit cultural and social diversity since their legal, political, social and economic systems have different histories and frameworks (Hantrais, 1999). There are also cultural differences between them related to gender-role expectations. These differences crucially shape the opportunities available to young people in different countries, both in terms of their present life situations but also in terms of how they see adulthood in the future.
