Research Method

The 3rd edition of the Open Data Barometer is based upon three kinds of data:

  1. A peer reviewed expert survey carried out between May and September 2015 with a range of questions about open data contexts, policy, implementation and impacts and a detailed dataset survey completed for 15 kinds of data in each country, which touched upon issues of data availability, format, licensing, timeliness and discoverability.
  2. A government self assessment in the form of a simplified survey carried out between May and July 2015 with the same range of context, implementation and impact questions for further involvement of government in the assessment process.
  3. Secondary data selected to complement our expert survey data. This is used in the readiness section of the Barometer, and is taken from the World Economic Forum, World Bank, United Nations e-Government Survey and Freedom House.

This new edition of the Barometer seeks to repeat the analysis from previous editions, with some small modifications and methodological revisions that are focused on three main aspects:

  • The government self assessment simplified questionnaire for each of the countries in the study as an additional source of input for the research.
  • Two new additional Readiness questions (ODB.2015.C.POLI – ODB.2015.C.MANAG) and other minor adjustments for all questions as first exploration steps towards the assessment of the International Open Data Charter principles.
  • A more detailed and incremental scoring guidance with comprehensive criteria and scoring thresholds to guide the researcher and improve consistency of the results.

Overall, however, we have sought to maintain certain consistency with the questions used in previous editions. Wider methodological revisions will continue to be explored in future editions as we keep advancing in our measurement methods.

You can read more about the methodology and research process and method in the detailed methodology description (pdf version) and the research handbook (pdf version). Feel also free to provide your feedback through comments on the respective online versions.