Navigating the realities of multinational surveys: Lessons learned and recommendations

With global challenges, the need for multinational research has become more pronounced. This type of research is an intricate endeavor that demands meticulous planning and consideration of diverse challenges. Sharing the personal experiences of researchers engaged in multinational research offers real-world insights beyond theoretical knowledge, alerting researchers to potential challenges that may arise in diverse cultural and geographical contexts. In this article, we portray our personal experience in conducting a multinational, collaborative survey, shedding light on the intricacies of this collaborative process, unraveling lessons learned, and offering recommendations for fellow researchers worldwide. Specifically, we focus on our experience in establishing the research team, work coordination and communication, creating comparative questionnaires, and efficient and effective data collection. We further present our thoughts about choosing between within-country and cross-country surveys and how to consider the contextual factors to improve the analytical rigor, interpretation, and conclusions drawn from multinational surveys.