Introduction.

This special issue of theJournal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology contains a series of articles on the living arrangements of the elderly in four Asian countries (the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand) as revealed in qualitative data provided by focus group discussions. These four countries are characterized by a mix of similarities and differences that makes comparison between them especially interesting. Focus group methodology, as discussed in detail in the following separate article, is a promising approach for research in social gerontology.