Other forms of Data Appraisal
Limitations
Recall Bias
In the pilot data collection, respondents were asked to report on conflict events that had taken place in their family and their community over the last six years. This extremely long recall period must be considered when drawing inferences from the data. People are likely to under-report less severe (and therefore less memorable) events, particularly those that happened to community members in larger communities. Respondents are also more likely to recall events that happened to family members than those that happened to community members. Other biases may also be at play - for example, those who have been most highly affected by conflict over the last six years may have moved to another community. These factors demonstrate the importance of implementing a regular data collection schedule, which would allow far more accurate data to be collected.
Sampling Bias
The GHS is a panel survey taking place over multiple rounds through a period of time. Therefore, households that are more mobile or households that are nomadic are less likely to be represented in this sample. This may be particularly relevant in circumstances where nomadic groups are named as perpetrators of conflict events.
Power Dynamics
There are some disadvantages to the phone system, and for this reason it should be supplemented by additional types of data collection wherever possible. In a mobile phone survey, the respondent is the person who owns a mobile phone. In many areas, particularly those highly affected by poverty and those located in rural areas, only one family member owns a mobile phone. This is generally the household head, who is most likely male. Furthermore, in many of these communities, women are not allowed to have access to mobile phones and are forbidden from speaking to outsiders, which can prohibit mobile phone-based data collection.
Gender Dynamics
The questionnaire was administered to only one respondent per household - most often a male household head. This means that crimes that carry stigma, especially sexual violence, are less likely to be reported. In this dataset, no sexual assault was reported despite data collected elsewhere that indicate that rape was used as a weapon by Boko Haram and elsewhere. This also means that violence that affects members of the household with less power (such as women, children, and employees), is less likely to be reported. This may be particularly important when considering violence not related to ongoing external conflict, such as domestic violence.
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