FAQ
Why doesn’t ACLED have a ‘reason for demonstration’ variable?
ACLED does not have a 'reason for demonstration' variable due to varied reasons for demonstrations.
Published on: 9 May 2023 | Last updated: 1 November 2023
Why demonstrators choose to engage in a demonstration can be very varied, even within the same demonstration. Reporting of demonstrations cannot always capture all of these nuances. As such, ACLED does not readily code such a variable, though the data will include any information the original source noted in the qualitative ‘Notes’ section of the event. However, while the reason for a demonstration can be more subjective, who is involved is less so. It is often quite clear from reporting what groups, movements, etc. may be taking part in a demonstration. ACLED does capture this information whenever reported by coding such identifiers as the respective ‘Associated Actor’ within events (for more on coding decisions, see the ACLED Codebook).