Methods

Data Collection Methodology

The UNC COVID-19 Health and Human Rights Monitor uses a systematic methodology to both collect and code media reports on COVID-19, public health, and human rights. Using a structured key-term search strategy, trained team members run searches the NexisUni news database for English-language media reports. Searches are run in 7-day increments, starting from January 4th, 2020 – the day that the World Health Organization announced a cluster of pneumonia cases but no deaths in Wuhan, China. The first 1,000 results from each search are screened based on pre-determined eligibility criteria (i.e., whether the report discussed a public health action/inaction in response to COVID-19 and described the human rights implications of that action/inaction). Reports that meet eligibility criteria are included and coded.

Coding Methodology

From the included media reports, relevant data are extracted, categorized, and coded independently by trained team members. The extracted data include citation information—such as the title, source, and date of the publication—as well as information on the countr(ies) and geographic region(s) discussed. The underlying media report is then categorized on the basis of (a) the public health action/inaction taken in response to COVID-19; (b) the human rights implicated in that public health response, including civil, political, economic, and social rights; and (c) any population groups specifically impacted.

A comprehensive codebook guides the categorization of public health actions/inactions, human rights implications, and affected populations. Codes were delineated and defined using authoritative frameworks within the fields of public health and human rights. The contents of the codebook were piloted and validated by academic experts in the fields of public health and human rights prior to data collection.

The following materials were referenced in developing the coding methodology:

• Advancing the Right to Health: The Vital Role of Law (2016) by the World Health Organization
• The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual (2018) by the US Centers for Disease Control

• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965)

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966)

• International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966)

• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979)

• Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (1984)

• Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989)

• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (1990)

• International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (2006)

• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006)

For more information about our methodology, please contact us.

Please note: The published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with the reader.