国际关系研究的定量数据库及其应用

Quantitative Data sets and Its Applications in International Studies

国际关系研究者经常面对一些需要运用数据进行比较、检验或支持的问题。对于试图采用定量研究方法的研究者而言,如何获取和使用研究所需的数据是研究过程中面对的第一个难题。作者将国际关系定量数据库分为冲突数据、国际经济政治地理数据、组织数据和调查数据等几种主要类型,它们涵盖国际政治经济、冲突或冲突过程、国际组织、对外政策分析、民主化、族群政治、发展、环境研究、和平研究等大部分国际关系研究领域。在对这些数据库的主要用途、特征、使用方法以及最新相关研究成果进行介绍的基础上,作者认为,为了最大限度地利用已有数据,研究者需根据研究目的和问题选择最合适的数据,尽可能使用不同数据来进行假设检验,同时在分析使用数据时需要注意数据的测量层次问题。

Students of International Relations often face some problems that need to be compared,examined or confirmed with quantitative data sets.For those scholars who employ quantitative methods to conduct international studies,the first difficult task in their research is how to collect related data sets in order to serve for their research purpose.The authors of this article divide quantitative data sets into some major types,namely,conflict data,international political economic data,geographic data,and international organization data.These datasets cover a variety of topics in international relations,including international political economic,conflict & conflict process,international organization,foreign policy analysis,democratization,ethnic politics,development,environmental studies and peace studies.Based on a comprehensive introduction about their sources,typical uses and characteristics,the authors argue that researchers should choose the most appropriate date according to their research propose and questions,use different data to test their hypothesis and be aware of the level-of-measurement problems for the best use of existing data sets.