What's the meaning of “on a comparable basis”?

Question

I'm not a native English speaker and I'm having a hard time trying to translate it. What could be the definition for "on a comparable basis"?

Edit: Here's the context in which I've encountered it:

... statistics were presented on a comparable basis.

Answer 1

It means based on similar conditions or principles, or in a state in which a comparison can be made.

For example, an employer tells his employee he will be paid time and a half for every hour he works after nine o'clock and double for every hour he works after midnight. He then tells another employee he will be paid on a comparable basis, i.e. the employee will have his hourly pay determined in a similar way.

Answer 2

It suggests the data has been normalised or selected or grouped in some way so that it can be compared meaningfully. But without more context it's impossible to say precisely.

Answer 3

Hard to say without a broader context, but it probably means that the statistics were adjusted so that they could be presented in similar terms.

By and large, people don't think a great deal about the literal meaning of what they're writing, so chances are it's supposed to mean exactly what makes most sense in the context, whether or not that's what the phrase literally means.