Managing International Comparative Research

Managing multinational teams engaged in comparative social sciences and humanities projects that cross national, societal or cultural boundaries is infinitely more complex than organizing single- or two-country studies carried out by lone researchers or small national teams. Whether it concerns the conceptualization of the research topic, the formulation of research questions, the selection of units of comparison, team members and methods, or the interpretation and dissemination of findings, the coordination of international teams is rarely a straightforward process. Just as reports on projects and articles in internationally refereed journals tend to gloss over many of the practical problems encountered, and the findings of projects that fail to meet their objectives may never be publicized, it is all too easy to disregard the challenging and divisive issues that arise when researchers from different cultures, languages and disciplines work together to explore a question of mutual interest from a comparative perspective.