V–Dem Data Launch Workshop

Get an early start on using V-Dem data!

The Varieties of Democracy project (V-Dem) is an international effort to provide the global community with the world’s most comprehensive, accurate, and detailed democracy ratings. On January 4, 2016, years of work will culminate in the public data release of new indicators of more than 400 attributes of democracy and governance for almost all countries of the world since 1900—more than 15 million data points.

Offered by V-Dem Co-PI Michael Coppedge and V-Dem research assistants Fernando Bizzarro, Ben Denison, and Lucía Tiscornia, this workshop is designed to help researchers at Notre Dame be among the first to gain access to the data, figure out what they can do with it, and learn how to make the most of it. 

The data promises to be useful to researchers across a wide range of disciplines and interests. The workshop will present the necessary information needed to use the data well—plus a complimentary flash drive containing a copy of the dataset—and include a discussion of opportunities for complementary and/or collaborative research.

See schedule here.

To register, click here. We encourage early registration, as space in this workshop is limited.

The January workshop is the best way to prepare for an international conference to be held at the Kellogg Institute in fall 2016, which will provide an early opportunity for researchers beyond the core V-Dem team to present analyses using the data.

Building on the January workshop, there will also be an advanced workshop in February on how to incorporate measurement uncertainty when using the data in regressions. And during the spring semester, the Democracy Working Group will give graduate students and faculty opportunities to present early findings and receive critiques on their work in progress.

A Partial List of Concepts Measured by V-Dem