Getting Familiar with Databases & Searches

UNHCR Population Statistics Database
Yesterday, I met with Ms. Koble, one of the professors leading my independent study. The meeting was extremely helpful. She gave me the debrief on what I had already done and provided me with 2 new database to get familiar with, one of them being: the UNHCR Population Statistics Database. At first glance, I was astonished at how absolutely comprehensive the database is. I read the UNHCR Population Statistics Database General Notes. Here, I gathered important information. For example, the fact that Palestinian refugees are not included in their statistics. Instead, they are under a special agency: the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The UNHCR data specifically is on the following populations: refugees, asylum-seekers, returned refugees, IDP, returned IDPs, stateless persons, and others of concern to UNHCR.

Define:
Others of concern:
refers to individuals who do not necessarily fall directly into any of the groups above, but to whom UNHCR extends its protection and/or assistance services, based on humanitarian or other special grounds.

I also read the UNHCR Statistical Online Population Database: Sources, Methods, and Data Considerations. The three main providers are government agencies, UNHCR field offices, and NGO's. The UNHCR also details the strengths,  weaknesses, difficulties, and limitations of collecting this type of data.

The actual database itself seems very extensive and allows for very specific searches. Based off the two pictures I selected for today's post, I decided to test out searching for information by selecting the following:

The results showed there are over 30,000 refugees and 14,000 asylum seekers residing in Germany in the year of 2012. Another example, is that 

France had over 3,000 refugees from the Congo the same year. Unfortunately, the oldest year the data goes back is to 2000. I cross referenced UCDP/PRIO Armed Conflicts Dataset and the UNHCR Dataset by using my list of internal conflicts to enter in information into the Population Statistics database. 

The Journal of Refugee Studies:
Another useful reference I learned about was The Journal of Refugee Studies. A new volume comes out every two - three months and first began in 1988. I have been skimming through the titles of articles. I read the abstract for those that I find to be applicable to our topic. So far, other than very specific cases, I have not found many articles that pertain to the information I am seeking.