IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/90450.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Systematic measurement error in election violence data: causes and consequences

Author

Listed:
  • von Borzyskowski, Inken
  • Wahman, Michael

Abstract

What are the causes and consequences of systematic measurement error in violence measures drawn from media-based conflict event data? More specifically, how valid are such event data for geo-coding and capturing election violence? We examine sub-national variation in election violence and use original data from domestic election monitor surveys as a comparison to widely used sources of event data. We show that conventional data under-report events throughout the election cycle, particularly in densely populated areas and in anticipated violence hotspots. Moreover, systematic measurement error of media-based event data for measuring election violence generates significant relationships where none exist, and different effect magnitudes. We offer ways forward for future research and indicate ways in which existing work on election violence may have been affected by systematic measurement error

Suggested Citation

  • von Borzyskowski, Inken & Wahman, Michael, 2018. "Systematic measurement error in election violence data: causes and consequences," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 90450, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
  • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:90450
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/90450/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Idean Salehyan & Cullen S. Hendrix & Jesse Hamner & Christina Case & Christopher Linebarger & Emily Stull & Jennifer Williams, 2012. "Social Conflict in Africa: A New Database," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 503-511, September.
    2. Cook, Scott J. & Blas, Betsabe & Carroll, Raymond J. & Sinha, Samiran, 2017. "Two Wrongs Make a Right: Addressing Underreporting in Binary Data from Multiple Sources," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 223-240, April.
    3. Charles Fernandes Taylor & Jon CW Pevehouse & Scott Straus, 2017. "Perils of pluralism: Electoral violence and incumbency in sub-Saharan Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 54(3), pages 397-411, May.
    4. Hafner-Burton, Emilie M. & Hyde, Susan D. & Jablonski, Ryan S., 2014. "When Do Governments Resort to Election Violence?," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(1), pages 149-179, January.
    5. Nils B. Weidmann & Michael D. Ward, 2010. "Predicting Conflict in Space and Time," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 54(6), pages 883-901, December.
    6. Weidmann, Nils B. & Callen, Michael, 2013. "Violence and Election Fraud: Evidence from Afghanistan," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 43(1), pages 53-75, January.
    7. G. Kuder & M. Richardson, 1937. "The theory of the estimation of test reliability," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 2(3), pages 151-160, September.
    8. Thad Dunning, 2011. "Fighting and Voting: Violent Conflict and Electoral Politics," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 55(3), pages 327-339, June.
    9. Cullen S. Hendrix & Idean Salehyan, 2015. "No News Is Good News: Mark and Recapture for Event Data When Reporting Probabilities Are Less Than One," International Interactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 392-406, March.
    10. Nils B. Weidmann, 2016. "A Closer Look at Reporting Bias in Conflict Event Data," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(1), pages 206-218, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Inken von Borzyskowski & Patrick M Kuhn, 2020. "Dangerously informed: Voter information and pre-electoral violence in Africa," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(1), pages 15-29, January.
    2. Mengyang Zhao, 2019. "Media Freedom and Protest Events in the Global South," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 100(4), pages 1254-1267, June.
    3. Michael Wahman & Edward Goldring, 2020. "Pre-election violence and territorial control: Political dominance and subnational election violence in polarized African electoral systems," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(1), pages 93-110, January.
    4. Pengl, Yannick I. & Roessler, Philip & Rueda, Valeria, 2022. "Cash Crops, Print Technologies, and the Politicization of Ethnicity in Africa," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(1), pages 181-199, February.
    5. Carl Müller-Crepon, 2022. "Local ethno-political polarization and election violence in majoritarian vs. proportional systems," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(2), pages 242-258, March.
    6. Jesse Hammond, 2018. "Maps of mayhem," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(1), pages 32-46, January.
    7. Kikuta,Kyosuke, 2022. "The drowning-out effect: voter turnout, uncertainty, and protests," IDE Discussion Papers 867, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    8. Sebastian Schutte & Claire Kelling, 2022. "A Monte Carlo analysis of false inference in spatial conflict event studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(4), pages 1-22, April.
    9. Anita R. Gohdes, 2020. "Repression Technology: Internet Accessibility and State Violence," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 64(3), pages 488-503, July.
    10. Leila Demarest & Arnim Langer, 2022. "How Events Enter (or Not) Data Sets: The Pitfalls and Guidelines of Using Newspapers in the Study of Conflict," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 51(2), pages 632-666, May.
    11. Jorge Gallego, 2016. "Civil Conflict and Voting Behavior: Evidence," Documentos de Trabajo 15162, Universidad del Rosario.
    12. Charles Butcher & Jessica Maves Braithwaite & Jonathan Pinckney & Eirin Haugseth & Ingrid Vik Bakken & Marius Swane Wishman, 2022. "Introducing the Anatomy of Resistance Campaigns (ARC) dataset," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(3), pages 449-460, May.
    13. Natalini, Davide & Bravo, Giangiacomo & Newman, Edward, 2020. "Fuel riots: definition, evidence and policy implications for a new type of energy-related conflict," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    14. Saibu, Ghadafi, 2023. "On the edge: Delays in election results and electoral violence in Sub-Sahara Africa," IDOS Discussion Papers 19/2023, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    15. Cullen S. Hendrix & Idean Salehyan, 2017. "A House Divided," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 61(8), pages 1653-1681, September.
    16. Christopher J Fariss & Michael R Kenwick & Kevin Reuning, 2020. "Estimating one-sided-killings from a robust measurement model of human rights," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 57(6), pages 801-814, November.
    17. Leopoldo Fergusson & Carlos Molina, 2020. "Facebook Causes Protests," HiCN Working Papers 323, Households in Conflict Network.
    18. Pearce Edwards & Patrick Pierson, 2023. "Incumbent-Aligned Terrorism and Voting Behavior: Evidence from Argentina’s 1973 Elections," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 67(4), pages 672-700, April.
    19. Mueller, Hannes & Rauh, Christopher, 2018. "Reading Between the Lines: Prediction of Political Violence Using Newspaper Text," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 112(2), pages 358-375, May.
    20. Erica Chenoweth & Christopher Wiley Shay, 2022. "Updating nonviolent campaigns: Introducing NAVCO 2.1," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 59(6), pages 876-889, November.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:90450. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.