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Adapting practices to local circumstances based on earlier interactions is mundane conduct for human beings. It becomes available for description only when conduct is analyzed as ordered in time, both sequentially and historically. In this introduction to the volume, we first situate the studies presented here with regard to the research agenda of classical Conversation Analysis (CA) and discuss earlier longitudinal research in the field. We then scrutinize a range of methodological challenges that arise at the current state of research for “vertical” (Zimmerman 1999) comparison in CA, related to such issues as warranting comparability and building collections over (extended) periods or time, as well as demonstrating the locally accountable character of longitudinal change. We close the chapter by briefly discussing perspectives for future research.