1. By breadth:macro-comparison (whole systems and families — this course) vs. micro-comparison (specific institutions and rules — dowry in Hindu and Muslim law; bail in common and civil law);
2. By purpose:descriptive comparison (the scholarly study) vs. functional/applied (reform, practice, teaching);
3. By field: comparative constitutional law, comparative criminal law, comparative contract, family, property, procedure, etc.;
4. By level: doctrine-in-books vs. law-in-action (the comparativists' warning — comparing codes while ignoring courts misleads: the Rechtstatsachenforschung tradition);
5. By depth: the tertium-based functional comparison vs. the contextual/cultural (legal-cultures) school (Legrand's challenge: systems are incommensurable mentalités — the debate every essay should cite).