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Stories behind the data

The nature of coding a survey is such that answers are coded in their simplest form: yes or no, or answer 1,2,3,4, etc. Despite the necessity of this system for our research, some of the interesting details get left out. While anecdotes will not factor into our data analysis, I don't want them to be forgotten. Therefore, this blog post shows little glimpses of the stories that we can't code- the stories behind the data:

My mother, grandmother, and brother died in the earthquake. My father sent my sisters and me to live in the orphanage, married another woman, and now has a new baby. I live with my father, my mother, and my other mother. (Father's 2nd wife)

My mom can read, my dad can't. My mom didn't tell my dad's family she could read until after they were married or else the marriage wouldn't have happened. Our house was destroyed by the earthquake and we didn't have anywhere to go so we lived outside. We eat in the same house we did before the earthquake but sleep in a temporary shelter because we are afraid. I missed school last week because I was traveling to Kathmandu to receive my mother who was coming back from Kuwait.

I live with my mother only because my father eloped with another woman.

I live with my father because my mother is in Qatar. I missed school last week because I had a ceremony that lasted 9 days (coming of age ritual). My brother missed school last week becasue he just didn't want to go. My sisters go to school but not when they are menstruating. My sister misses school because there is a dog in the street that chases her on the way to school. My brother doesn't go to school because our parents are dead, he is 17 and married and has to care for the family. My sister didn't go to school last week because she was attending a wedding. I go to school more now than before the earthquake, because now there's not as much work in the house. I go to school less now, because I'm afraid.

I go to school less, because I feel afraid in the new classroom (temporary tin shelter). We used to have electricity in our house, but now it is solar because an organization brought us solar after the earthquake. Before the earthquake we used candles, now we have electricity.

We don't learn about earthquakes in school.

We learned about earthquakes once from some foreigners but I don't remember what they taught us.

It takes me one hour to get to school (uphill) and 30 minutes to get home from school (downhill).


WHAT WE KNOW THUS FAR

#1 

To our knowledge, our work will result in the first empirical study that examines how history of conflict impacts natural disaster resilience.

 

#2

8 million individuals in Nepal have been impacted by the 2015 earthquake. 

 

#3

We have succeeded in creating a new variable, partnered with the Geological Sciences Department at Texas A&M University to better estimate earthquake intensity using magnitude and distance.

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