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International comparative research: tricks of the trade?

Many handbooks on research methodologies and statistical techniques are available. This rich literature source addresses the three basic questions all researchers have to answer: What do we want to know? How do we measure it? And what data can be found to provide an answer to our central question? This article suggests a methodology which might be used in dealing with international comparative research projects. Via a case study, the paper will show the way one particular research project was dealt with. As such, we will indicate our basic questions, the difficulties and pitfalls we came across, and our solutions in an international comparative study on the relative performance orientation of public funding mechanisms for universities. We use a step by step approach following the research project that resulted in the article: Keeping up performances: an international survey of performance based funding in higher education (Jongbloed and Vossensteyn, 2001).