What problems are common with the published data available about different countries?
What will be an ideal response?
For the most part, incomplete or inaccurate published data result from the inability of many governments to collect the needed information. Poor countries may have such limited resources that other projects necessarily receive priority in the national budget. Economic factors also hamper record retrieval and analysis. The result may be information that is years old before it is made public. Cultural factors affect responses. Mistrust of how the data will be used may lead respondents to answer incorrectly, particularly if questions probe financial activities. However, not all inaccuracies are due to governmental collection and dissemination procedures. People's desire and ability to cover up data on themselves—such as unrecorded criminal activity—may distort published figures. Finally, researchers may use poor collection and analysis methods.