The Obama administration is expected to announce today the nomination of Robert M. Groves as the next director of the Census Bureau, which has several prominent statisticians and social scientist buzzing. Grove’s statistical bona-fides are impressive to say the least, as his ScienceInsider points out:
From 1990-92, he worked at the Census Bureau as associate director of statistical design. The Consortium of Social Science Associations issued a statement lauding the choice. But some Republicans have taken the appointment as a sign that the White House is taking a political stance on the issue of “sampling”—a hot issue because of debates over how to handle undercounted minorities.
The Census Bureau is the clearing house for much of the data used by American politics scholars, so I can appreciate their excitement. As someone who observes American politics mainly as a participant, and not as a scholar, the news also makes me long for a similar center for international conflict data. The World Bank and IMF do a fairly good job of collecting and reporting data relevant to international political economy studies, but no single agency is tasked with collecting international conflict data. As such, the community studying this area relies on the good will of other scholars or NGOs.
I ask, therefore, when will IR scholars get a home for their data, and when we do, where should it go? The UN seems like a natural place to house conflict data, but I am fearful of the bureaucratic tainting that might occur there. Another option would be an well-established NGO in this space, such as the International Red Cross, but they would need to expand their data collection focus beyond the domain of war’s impact on health (sorry, Chris). As always, I welcome your suggestions in the comments, or @drewconway.
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