Replication Data for: Are Many Sets of Eyes Better Than One? Evaluating Multiple Databases of Armed Actors in Colombia

Having a diversity of metrics of armed actors' behavior and presence contributes to building robust in conflict research. In contrast to the common scarcity of comparable sub-national data on conflict, Colombia concentrates a wealth of measurement efforts tracking armed actors. How comparable are these databases? Based on ecological monitoring techniques, this research evaluates the extent to which six independent measurement efforts identify similar trends of armed actor territorial presence in Colombia. Using the Jaccard similarity score, the analysis reveals a remarkably low level of similarity between measures. At best, the average Jaccard index reaches 37.1% of similarity when considering aggregated types of actors (guerrilla and paramilitaries). However, similarity drop as low as 18.6% when using disaggregated measures for specific armed groups (FARC, ELN, or AUC). This low level of similarity affects statistical inferences and prevents reliable robustness checks. To address the shortcomings of individual measures, the paper advances a data integration approach and evaluates its performance.