THE GLOBAL EVENT-DATA SYSTEM: Coders' Manual John L. Davies Center for International Development and Conflict Management and Department of Government and Politics College Park MD August 1998 Revision The Global Event-Data System Coders' Manual John L. Davies Center for International Development and Conflict Management and Department of Government and Politics Tydings Hall #0145 University of Maryland College Park MD 20742 August, 1998 Revision This project has received support from the National Science Foundation (SES90-25130—Data Development for International Research), the US Department of Defense (N41756-95-C-4814), the Swiss Peace Foundation, the University of Maryland, the University of Illinois, and other sources. CONTENTS Overview... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … 4 GEDS Coding Procedures 1. Basic Steps in Generating Event-Data (identification, summary, analytical coding and editing) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 6 2. Sample Event Records … ... ... ... ... ... ... … 9 3. Identifying an Event 3.1 Core structure ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … 12 3.2 Observable behavior only ... ... ... ... ... … 12 3.3 (Inter)national significance ... ... ... ... ... … 13 3.4 Multiple interrelated events, one article ... ... ... … 13 3.5 Multiple articles, one event ... ... ... ... ... … 14 3.6 Headlined event coding... ... ... ... ... ... … 15 3.7 International vs. domestic events ... ... ... ... … 15 4. Event Summary and Quotes 4.1 General structure ... ... ... ... ... ... … 17 4.2 Lead sentence ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … 17 4.3 Key elements 4.3.1 #Actor & agent# ... ... ... ... ... … 18 4.3.2 ~Action-phrase~ ... ... ... ... ... … 18 4.3.3 *Target & agent* ... ... ... ... ... … 19 4.3.4 Others affected ... ... ... ... ... … 20 4.3.5 Date ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … 20 4.3.6 ^Location^ ... ... ... ... ... ... … 20 {page \* arabic} 4.3.7 <Institutional context>... ... ... ... ... … 20 4.3.8 For verbal actions: object and conditions ... … … 20 4.3.9 Other contextual information ... ... ... ... … 20 4.3.10 [Casualties], refugees, prisoners etc ... ... … … 21 4.3.11 "Direct quotes"... ... ... ... ... … … 21 4.3.12 Flagging requirements ... ... ... ... … … 21 4.4 Citing secondary sources ... ... ... ... ... … 22 4.5 Other guidelines … ... ... ... ... ... ... 22 5. Analytical Code Fields 5.1 Event Date ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 5.2 Continuity ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 5.3 Actor(s) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 27 5.3.1 Non-state actors ... ... ... ... ... ... 27 5.3.2 Multiple actors ... ... ... ... ... ... … 29 5.3.3 Unidentified actors ... ... ... ... ... … 29 5.3.4 Agents (actor's representatives) ... ... ... ... 30 5.4 Target(s) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 5.4.1 Special target codes ... ... ... ... ... … 32 5.4.2 Multiple targets ... ... ... ... ... ... 33 5.4.3 Agents (target's representatives) ... ... ... … 33 5.5 Other(s) Affected. ... ... ... ... ... ... … 34 5.6 Location ('place') ... ... ... ... ... ... … 35 5.6.1 Special location codes ... ... ... ... ... … 35 5.6.2 Complex locations ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 5.7 Casualties ('killed,' 'wounded') .... ... ... ... ... 37 5.8 Issue Type ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 38 5.8.1 Symbolic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 39 5.8.2 Economic ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 39 5.8.3 Military/strategic ... ... ... ... ... … 40 5.8.4 Cultural/scientific/educational ... ... ... ... … 40 5.8.5 Physical environment/ecology/natural resource ... ... 41 5.8.6 Minorities/human rights/health ... ... ... ... 41 5.8.7 Political/legal ... ... ... ... ... ... … 41 5.8.8 Other/unidentifiable ... ... ... ... ... … 42 5.9 Verbal/Substantive 5.9.1 Substantive ... ... ... ... ... ... … 43 5.9.2 Comment ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 43 5.9.3 Statement of intention ... ... ... ... ... … 43 5.9.4 Request ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 44 5.10 COPDAB Cooperation and Conflict Scales 5.10.1 International and Domestic Scales ... ... … … 45 5.10.2 Non-State Actor Scale ... ... ... ... … … 45 5.10.3 Weighting Cooperation and Conflict Intensity ... … … 46 5.10.4 Selecting Applicable Scale(s) ... ... ... … … 46 5.10.5 Selecting Scale Values ... ... ... ... … … 48 {page \* arabic} 6. Reference Fields 6.1 Source and Referencing 6.1.1 Sources ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 50 6.1.2 Multiple articles, same source ... ... ... ... … 50 6.1.3 Referencing ... ... ... ... ... … … 51 6.2 Coder and Editor Information ... ... ... ... ... … 51 6.3 Comments Field ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 51 APPENDICES: I: Actor, Target, Other(s) Affected and Location Codes (REVISED 1998) … 52 I.1 America (North & Central) ... ... ... ... ... … 52 I.2 America (South) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 53 I.3 Europe (Western & Northern) ... ... ... ... ... … 55 I.4 Europe (Eastern, Southern & Nordic—incl. CIS) ... ... ... 56 I.5 Africa (Western & Central) ... ... ... ... ... … 62 I.6 Africa (Eastern & Southern) ... ... ... ... ... … 63 I.7 North Africa & Middle East ... ... ... ... ... … 66 I.8 Asia (East & South) ... ... ... ... ... ... … 67 I.9 Asia (South-East) ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 69 I.10 The Pacific ... ... ... ... ... ... ... … 70 I.11 Non-Regional Organizations, Other ... ... ... ... … 71 II: COPDAB Cooperation and Conflict Scales II.1 International Scale ... ... ... ... ... ... … 73 II.2 Domestic Scale ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 76 II.3 Non-State Scale ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 83 III: Current Coding Priorities and Data Availability ... ... ... ... 85 {page \* arabic} OVERVIEW (1998 edition) The Global Event-Data System (GEDS) has been established to allow computer-assisted identification, narrative description and analytical coding of daily international and intra-national events, as reported primarily in on-line news sources, including international sources such as Reuters’ newswires as well as regionally based sources such as Itar Tass. GEDS event-data, describing the day-to-day actions of all states and the major non-state communities and international organizations, is generated and stored within a Microsoft Access relational database software environment. MS Access and web-based GEDS user software facilitate manipulation, graphic display and analysis of data, incorporation of user-generated or user-specified codes, as well as interfacing with statistical and interpretive software and related data sets. The GEDS archive now incorporates Azar's Conflict and Peace Data Bank (COPDAB) data from 1948 to 1978 (and for some countries through 1981), including analytical codings for issue type and cooperation/conflict intensity (15-point scales). GEDS coding from 1979 draws on the denser and more even coverage of Reuters (supplemented by local or regional sources as needed, especially for early warning purposes) and adds substantially more narrative and analytical detail. Other specialized event-data and crisis data sets can also be developed or updated in collaboration with GEDS (as recently with Davis and Moore's Intra-national Political Interactions Project, and Barbara Harff's crisis early warning "accelerator" projects—see Davies and Gurr, 1998; Gurr and Harff, 1994). While use of on-line news sources and partially automated coding procedures improve the efficiency and reliability of GEDS coders, broader near-real-time coverage and completion of all back-coding from 1979, will require a more fully automated coding process. Data for several countries (mostly in the Middle East) are now available for 1948 through 1994, but most countries have as yet only been coded to 1978 and for the three early post-Cold War years from 1990 (see Appendix III for data availability). Generation of continuous, near real-time coding as needed for conflict or crisis early warning has also begun in 1998 for selected locations (initially in Africa and the Caucasus). Automated identification of codable source articles, automated pre- coding of event date and participants, and automated checking of analytical coding is now in place or being implemented. Automated pre-coding of conflict-cooperation, issue types, the verbal /substantive distinction, and agents (participants' representatives) is currently being developed. This allows us to increasingly to combine the greater speed and consistency of automated coding with the greater accuracy and detail possible with human coders. GEDS data and software are now distributed via FTP, CD-ROM or disks, and we are in the process of establishing web-based access. This manual is now accessible via the GEDS home page (http://www.bsos.umd.edu/cidcm/geds); with other material to follow, including an expanded list of recognized state and non-state actors, and a map interface to locate politically significant non-state communities such as those included in Gurr’s Minorities at Risk Project. NOTE that several actor codes have been changed or added to the original list (e.g., for international organizations—see Appendix I). Davies, J.L. and C.K. McDaniel (1994). "A New Generation of International Event-Data." International Interactions 20: 55-78. {page \* arabic} Davies, J.L. and C.K. McDaniel (1993). "The Global Event-Data System." In R.L. Merritt, R.G. Muncaster and D.A. Zinnes (eds.) International Event-Data Developments: DDIR Phase II. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Davies, J.L. and T.R. Gurr (1998) Preventive Measures: Building Risk Assessment and Crisis Early Warning Systems. Boulder: Rowman and Littlefield (esp. chs. 1, 5 & 6). Gurr, T.R. and B. Harff (1994) "Early Warning of Communal Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises." Special Issue of Journal of Ethno-Development 4(1) (see papers