While the European dimension clearly lends itself to comparison, there has been a tendency for this to become the preserve of 'comparative education'. Consequently, the idea that there may be multiple sociologies of comparison is, on the face of it, rather a surprising one, given the paucity of discussions of comparative aspects of sociology of education, or of what a comparative approach might add to it.  However, that makes the opportunity to discuss the possibilities that this relatively unexplored conjunction might produce all the more appealing.

 The paper will suggest that the main justification for the addition of a comparative element to the sociology of education is to increase its ability to draw causal conclusions about relations within the fields studied by sociology of education, and that this should be the criterion for judging the value of different ‘sociologies of comparison’.  These include different ‘methodological’ approaches—quantitative or qualitative, case- or variable –based, different conceptions of ‘context’ and of spatiality and temporality. The purpose will be to consider ways of going beyond the use of ‘comparison’ as a means of laying bare regularities, or even advancing them as solutions to problems in other places.

A basic focus will be on establishing the bases on which cases can legitimately and effectively be compared, arguing that before we can compare cases we have to compare the theories on the basis of which they are constructed, in order to establish that they are comparable. That is to say, comparison has to become ‘topic’ before it can become ‘resource’,  and as much the substance as the approach to or the framework of the study.

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