ABSTRACT
CASE STUDIES AND COMPARATIVE RESEARCH Two distinct cognitive goals are generally recognised where the methodology of research into other planning systems is being considered. The first, commonly held, is solely to present the other system, and experience of it and in it, as authentically as possible-the result is generally known as an ethnography. The second, becoming more commonly held, is the goal of comparison-comparison for the purposes of developing or testing broad hypotheses or theories. Whilst this latter approach often results in a loss of authenticity, this is justified by the potential gains in terms of general rules about planning institutions and procedures that obtain despite differences of detail. There is much debate over the relative merit of each goal.
