In their chapter, Cooperative Data in a Comparative Perspective: Avoiding Pitfalls for Robust Data Aggregation, written for Global Cooperative Economics and Movements, Véronique de Herde and Tine De Moor examine the methodological challenges of comparing and aggregating cooperative data across time and space. As an increasing number of research projects rely on comparative datasets to assess, for example, the societal impact of cooperatives, the authors analyse a broad corpus of historical cooperative data sources, ranging from registration records to federation data at the national and international levels.

Following an epistemological framework of historical critique, the authors stress the need to carefully assess the scope and collection methodology of sources of data on cooperatives at the crossover of institutional boundaries, legal frameworks, and worldviews. The chapter proposes a stepwise approach of sources’ aggregation to reach scientific robustness. The results of this investigation call for a scientific coordination of any comparative endeavor beyond individual research teams. They also support a call to anticipate prospective source preservation on cooperative development through coordination of standards and methodologies.