This article comments on the methodological issues related to a research project led by a pair of binational researchers over a triple field. It focuses on the presuppositions, stereotypes, misunderstandings and misinterpretations that characterized this international comparative research. To deal with the difficulties inherent in this type of analysis, the researchers took inspiration from certain procedures from the Rapid Ethnography (RE) method, in particular those related to « insider » and « outsider » roles. The article first details how the binational research protocol was established and how RE was used. Secondly, it explains some of the issues surrounding RE in a comparative setting: imbalance in language skills and knowledge of cultural referents, adjustments in interview situations, managing the researchers’ identities, interactions during and after the interview and the complexity of the process of negotiating meanings.