ABSTRACT
Comparative research, in the sense of cross-country comparative research, is interested in analysing similarities and differences across countries. The objective of cross-country comparative research is to search for and to find rules or generalisations in the respective countries, cultures or societies regarding similarities and differences in specific characteristics and features. Public intervention in long-term care is rather restricted in less industrialised countries, and even in many industrialised countries public long-term care intervention occurs at a later stage in the development of the welfare state. The division of public and private as well as formal and informal responsibilities often is vaguely defined. Looking at issues not covered in the development of the respective models or looking in more detail at some of the issues used as criteria for classification might give a very different picture of the respective welfare state and the clustering of these states.
