The field of Comparative and International Education has evolved considerably from its origins in the early nineteenth century when research focused on providing descriptive accounts of educational provision elsewhere that would inform the development of national education systems. Attention to developing theories and methods for systematic and rigorous comparison, and the problems involved in making such comparisons, began in the late nineteenth century (Phillips & Schweisfurth, 2008) and remains an area of interest and debate. More recently, paradigmatic shifts towards post-positivist and poststructuralist frameworks as well as other societal and contextual shifts mean that researchers must constantly develop their thinking about designing and using appropriate methodological tools and be aware of a plethora of methodological issues that go beyond how to compare and include such issues as how to conduct ethical and credible research in international and intercultural contexts. The proliferation of globalisation, internationalisation and Europeanisation has led to an increase in mobility, migration and diversity in societies, educational institutions and workplaces, as people move to live, study, work and conduct research abroad. Advances in technology have also broken down barriers to international communication at a distance, although this is not the case in some remote and underdeveloped locations. Researchers of all disciplines are increasingly collaborating with ‘cultural others’ (Sanderson, 2004) both within and across geographical borders and it is now commonplace to work on large interdisciplinary projects involving participants from other countries, regions and contexts. Researchers and methodologists therefore face new opportunities and challenges as they engage in the research process. Operating in an era of ‘supercomplexity’ (Barnett, 2000), they are required to develop certain skills and competencies that will enable them to understand and communicate appropriately with people from other horizons, include and make sense of multiple perspectives and shifting identities, and design appropriate methodologies that produce credible and ethical research outcomes. The development of researchers’ intercultural competence, defined as ‘the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in intercultural situations based on one’s intercultural knowledge, skills and attitudes’ (Deardorff, 2006, p. 8) is key, as is the development of emotional and social intelligence, particularly when engaged in interpretative and qualitative research where the emphasis is on understanding ‘others’. In line with this background, this thematic issue sets out to explore some of the theoretical and methodological issues of conducting research in international, intercultural and comparative education. Each article makes a contribution to this theme by discussing the approaches, complexities and challenges of conducting empirical research, and some of the theoretical and conceptual difficulties encountered, offering insightful solutions and recommendations. Before providing an introduction to and synopsis of each individual article, I summarise the key