A Study of Crisis

Problem-Based Learning Exercise #3

POLS 5320 - International Conflict and Cooperation

 Second Assignment for March 3rd Session

This exercise differs a bit from our other exercises with the ICB dataset.  First, please read through the note from Jon Wilkenfeld. In that note he explains why and how a group at UMd has coded a relatively new set of variables on mediation for inclusion in the ICB dataset. As we have discussed at several points in other sessions, ICB, like any dataset, does not code all the variables you might individually need for your research agenda.  Because of this, if you choose to use certain datasets, you will at times need to code new variables, either by using the recode option within a statistics package or by going through the process of actually coding a new variable from scratch.  The latter process is described by Jon in his note about the mediation variables. 

So your tasks for this assignment are the following:

• after reading Jon's note and and the hypotheses he has generated, and based on your knowledge of the ICB dataset, are there other phenomena about the process and impact of mediation (or more broadly crisis intervention by outside powers, e.g., the UN or another actor like the US recently in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) that you think should be explored?  What are they?

• How might you go about coding them?  What categories are needed?

We will obviously discuss these ideas in class, but I am also going to ask you to form groups during next session to come up with other "supplementary" needs for the ICB dataset.  The point of these groups will be to explore others types of possible future ICB "add-ons," such the new mediation variables Jon describes.  For instance, when looking at the variables that code global or regional organization activity, are you satisfied with what they are measuring?  If not, why not and what should be added to better refine the dataset for a particular research agenda?