Why Collecting Data In Conflict Zones Is Invaluable—And Nearly Impossible

FastCoLabs-thumbnailHRDAG’s work in Kosovo and in the Guatemalan trial of General José Efraín Ríos Montt is discussed in this article. Megan Price, HRDAG’s director of research, is quoted. “There is a wide variety of things that could be considered data,” she says.

From the story:

Price’s main data analysis tool requires fitting a model to the data that ends up in her lap. That way, she can see whether there are gaps in the data and what more needs to be included. The method, called multiple systems estimation analysis, lets Price look at patterns across lists of data, for example, lists of victims. The resulting model reveals how much data is missing, to a degree of uncertainty. Price does not make any assumptions about the data beforehand.

Fast Company (Fast Co.Labs)
Tina Amirtha
May 17, 2014
Link to story in Fast Company

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