Published on: 9 May 2023 | Last updated: 1 November 2023
The size of demonstrations is a commonly overlooked aspect in reporting. When actually reported on, the estimates of the turnout to demonstration events often differ widely depending on whose claim it was; demonstration organizers may claim inflated crowd sizes to make their cause seem stronger, whereas those opposed to the demonstration may downplay crowd sizes. Moreover, sources across the globe differ in the consistency and specificity at which they report on demonstration sizes. Given the inconsistency and unreliability of how crowd sizes for ‘Protests’ and ‘Riots’ events are reported on, ACLED does not record this information as a distinct variable. However, ACLED researchers will still note the size of the demonstration, as reported, in the ‘Tags’ column of each event; this is written as “crowd size=x,” with “x” denoting the size of the demonstration as reported by the source. If sources do not report on the crowd size, the reported crowd size is recorded as “crowd size=no report”. All ‘Riots’ and ‘Protests’ events include a reported crowd size in the ‘Tags’ column.
