Introduction

Funding bodies and policy makers have increasingly called for comparative research. The result is that many researchers have initiated or participated in projects aimed at achieving some kind of multinational comparison (Livingstone, 2003). The EU Kids Online project is an example of such a study. In a review of about 400 studies of children and the internet, Hasebrink et al (2009) concluded that although it was possible to conduct a systematic and structured analysis of the existing research, it was both demanding in terms of research efforts and the claims made should be ‘treated as indicative rather than conclusive’ (see Hasebrink et al, 2009, p 95). At the same time, the analysis indicated that there are important cross-country differences in terms of children’s risks and opportunities on the internet. However, building on this uneven evidence base (Staksrud et al, 2009) it was difficult to extract the information required to conduct cross-national comparisons of other than the most commonly studied issues. Therefore, the second EU Kids Online project was designed to produce a rigorous, cross-nationally comparative quantitative evidence base of children's internet use across Europe. This chapter investigates similarities and differences across countries in children's usage of the internet and their encounters of risk. Countries are clustered, and national contexts are explored, to show how contextual factors at country level shape children's patterns of online use, opportunities and risks.

Logic of cross-country comparison

There are several reasons for conducting comparative research. One is to investigate the universality and uniqueness of findings based on nation-specific data. This requires comparison with data on other countries. Broadening the research perspective and providing fresh insights into the issues applying to a particular national context are part of the value of such research, and show how this approach can reveal significant knowledge gaps and point to new (or previously hidden) variables and factors that affect the phenomenon under scrutiny (Hantrais and Mangen, 1996, p 2; Livingstone, 2003, p 478). However, cross-national research must cope with many methodological as well as practical challenges. Methodological problems include selection of the research unit (mostly the nation-state), sampling and comparability of data issues and more practical issues (which also may have serious methodological implications) such as differences in professional academic culture, and standards of writing and communication (cf Livingstone, 2003).