In the past decade the social sciences have seen an upsurge of interest in analysing multidimensional contingency tables using log-linear models. Two broad families of log-linear models may be distinguished: the family of conventional models and the family of unconventional models (that is, quasi-log-linear and hybrid models). In this paper a brief review of such models is presented and some linkage to the class of generalised linear models suggested by Nelder and Wedderburn is provided. The great potential of log-linear models for spatial analysis is illustrated in applying conventional and unconventional models in a migration context to identify intertemporal stability of migration patterns. The problem that the effective units migrating are households rather than individuals is coped with by postulating a compound Poisson sampling scheme.