A new generation of international event‐data

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Abstract
Delay in updating event‐data banks partly reflects non‐resolution of issues concerning the validity and usefulness of existing data. This paper describes the development of an event‐data system which attempts, within practical limits, to resolve these issues. The Global Event‐Data System (GEDS) will provide computer‐assisted abstracting and partially‐automated coding of daily international and domestic actions of all nation‐states, major non‐state communities and international organizations, as reported by Reuters and other sources. Associated user software will also facilitate manipulation and graphic display of data, incorporation of user‐generated coding, and interfacing with statistical software and related data sets. GEDS data are being generated initially for the period from 1990, aiming toward a program for continuous near‐real‐time coding and back‐coding to 1979. The project is an open‐ended, collaborative effort, which will support the updating of earlier, more specialized data sets—COPDAB, WEIS, BCOW, SHERFACS, ICB and others—as well as supporting new coding schemes.