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Cited by 15Computational and Text Analysis MethodsNews Media Framing and Political CommunicationPolitical Conflict and Governance

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CONSTRUCTING RELATIONAL AND VERIFIABLE PROTEST EVENT DATA: FOUR CHALLENGES AND SOME SOLUTIONS*

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Oliver, Pamela, Hanna, Alex, Lim, Chaeyoon·2023·Mobilization: An International Quarterly
DOI 10.17813/1086-671x-28-1-1

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Abstract

We call for a relational approach to constructing protest event data from news sources to provide tools for detecting and correcting errors and for capturing the relations among events and between events and the texts describing them. We address two problems with most protest event datasets: (1) inconsistencies and errors in identifying events and (2) disconnect between data structures and what is known about how protests and media accounts of protests are produced. Relational data structures can capture the theoretically important structuring of events into campaigns and episodes and media attention cascades and cycles. Relational data structures support richer theorizing about the interplay of protests and their representations in news media discourses. We present preliminary illustrative data about Black protests from these new procedures to demonstrate the value of this approach. Preprint of a paper that has been accepted for publication in Mobilization: An International Quarterly. The published version will be edited to meet publication formatting guidelines. This paper is a substantial revision of “Constructing Theory-Informed Relational and Verifiable Protest Event Data” posted to SocArXiv https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/spzgx/ in September 2021.

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Metadata

Authors
Oliver, P., Hanna, A., & Lim, C.
Affiliations
University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
ORCID
Venue
Mobilization: An International Quarterly
Publisher
Mobilization Journal
Published
2023-03
Volume
28
Issue
1
Pages
1-22
ISSN
  • 1086-671X (ISSN-L)
  • 1938-1514
DOI
10.17813/1086-671x-28-1-1
OpenAlex
W4353064064
Cited by
15
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7
FWCI
6.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Mobilization An International Quarterly (publishedVersion)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (publishedVersion)
  • SocArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Science Foundation (1918342, 1423784)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › General Social Sciences › Computational and Text Analysis Methods
  • Social Sciences › Communication › News Media Framing and Political Communication
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
Keywords
relational data structures, event detection, data verification, error correction, protest campaigns, Black protest

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