Translating CAMEO verbs for automated coding of event data

Abstract

The Conflict and Mediation Event Observations (CAMEO) framework is the industry standard for computerized event coding that produces massive data on political conflict at a global scale. However, despite their focus on conflict in foreign locations, most coding efforts have the limitation of exclusively relying on text written in English. This paper advances the frontier of computerized event coding by presenting the CAMEO Verb Translation Application (VTA), a new technology to enable the translation of CAMEO verb dictionaries into non-English languages. CAMEO VTA integrates automated translation with human-in-the-loop features to increase the validity of the translation task. This development opens the possibility of expanding the leverage of CAMEO in a systematic and efficient manner. The first application of this tool focuses on translating CAMEO into Spanish.