> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://methodology.china-index.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Data collection

> China Index methodology, 2022 edition, as published.

## Regional partner and geography selection

We run open recruiting calls and reach out to members in our trusted network. Regional partners are recruited via CITW participants and contracted to manage the research and coordinate with local experts to answer Indicators. For each Index round, regional partners select up to five countries in which they are qualified and confident to conduct research.

CITW further sought to produce regionally comparable datasets.

## Eligibility requirements for regional partners and local experts

* Must be academics or professionals with expertise in specific Domains, independent journalists or nonpartisan researchers, think tanks or civil society organizations, or community leaders.
* Must not be working for or receiving compensation from a political party in their own country nor have received funding from political parties within the countries they are covering for the Index.
* Must not be on the U.S. Department of Treasury’s list of the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons ([http://sdnsearch.ofac.treas.gov](http://sdnsearch.ofac.treas.gov)).
* Must not have directly or indirectly received funding, donations, any form of payments, or interests from the PRC government or the apparatus of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

## Selection criteria for regional partners

* Expertise in China studies, such as Chinese politics, economics, cultural influence, or other relevant fields.
* At least one year of work or research experience in China-related affairs.
* Experience in coordinating transnational project(s), especially experience in collaborating with civil society from several countries (proven skills in networking, administration, and accounting preferred).
* Expertise or appropriate networks in their regions.

## Indicator response guidelines

Each of the Indicators will include 4 fields, all of which must be completed by respondents:

* **Influence measure:** The response to the Indicator. For binary Indicators, YES indicates observed PRC influence; NO indicates no observed influence. For graded Indicators, a score of 0 indicates no observed influence and a score of 4 indicates a high degree of observed influence.
* **Supporting evidence:** References supporting the chosen response. The evidence provided must be appropriate and sound. Accepted forms of evidence will be limited to a functional URL that directs to news accounts, official documents, think tank reports, NGO publications, academic papers, interviews, and books published within 4 years. Social media posts or other sources may be accepted if deemed appropriate but are generally discouraged.
* **Confidence rating:** A percentage score that indicates how confident the respondent is in their response.
* **Supplementary notes (optional):** Any additional information that the respondent may wish to provide for this Indicator. The content of these notes may include but is not limited to:
  * **Elaboration:** Detailed information on the rating or supporting evidence if necessary.
  * **Limitations:** Reasons for any limitations encountered in providing evidence or securing high quality evidence.
  * **Local contexts:** a) the local current situation is far more extreme than the rating suggested, b) different interpretations regarding the option usually implied, or c) other local factors that may elevate or suppress the impact of the Indicator.
  * **Evidence to the contrary:** If a respondent dissents with their country’s government and believes the government has not provided accurate information (in the extreme case, the government being the source of disinformation per se) to reflect PRC influence, the respondent should elaborate on the situation and explain how the government has been unreliable or insincere.
  * **Feedback:** Reflections on the design of this Indicator.

## Reducing the impact of bias

* Regional partners are responsible for collecting data by consulting with local experts. Indicators should be answered by consulting at least one local expert. There is no limitation for the number of Indicators for which an expert can be consulted, as long as they have qualified expertise.
* Indicators that regional partners consider irrelevant or cannot answer may be skipped. Respondents will be requested to skip no more than 10 Indicators (10%).
* Regional partners should find as many qualified and trustworthy local experts within a country as possible. In politically-constrained countries, we allow partners to collect data through a minimum of one local expert respondent and one additional reviewer.
* Selected local experts may or may not be affiliated with the corresponding regional partner. If experts are affiliated with the regional partner, they must be excluded from the administration of the project and the data collection and verification processes, so as to avoid procedural conflicts.
* Situations in which regional partners may reach out to a secondary expert to answer the Indicators: (a) If the confidence of answers from the first respondent are low; (b) if the results from the first respondent contain too many unanswered Indicators.
* For reasons of safety, local experts may choose not to reveal their identity or association with this project.


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