the greek research infrastructure
for social sciences
This paper deals with the fixed research design, where comparability is possible either in terms of space, or in terms of time, or in terms of space and time. In relation to time, the researchers are distinguished in time locally (cross sectional) and timeless, while in relation to culture (it is used as an extension of the widely used concept of space) in monocultural and intercultural. To achieve comparative intercultural research, data harmonization strategies are followed, such as "post-homogenization", "pre-input homogenization", "pre-output homogenization" and mixed techniques. The above data harmonization strategies are quite complex processes, where their success or failure is fully reflected in the final product of the research. This paper proposes a documentation model for timeless and intercultural research. The other types of research can be considered as sub-cases of timeless and intercultural research and therefore their documentation is covered by the proposed model. Initially, three documentation models are proposed based on the three homogenization strategies. Finally, the three different documentation models are integrated into one. All models are designed as correlation entity diagrams based on the homogenization strategies that govern comparative research.
