Humanizing Data
Representative Storytelling in a Refugee Camp
Will be published approx. on 29. October 2026
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-19-791640-7 (ISBN)
Description
Humanizing Data immerses readers in the everyday life of the Kakuma refugee camp, one the largest refugee camps in Africa. While the media frequently offers sensationalist portrayals of refugees as victims, heroes, or villains, this book adopts an alternative methodology called Representative Storytelling that enables readers to situate individual stories in relation to the experience of the wider population.
Based on long-term extensive research within the camp, including large-scale quantitative data collection, the authors worked with nine households located at different points on the camp's income distribution curve to tell their own stories in their own words. The result is nine in-depth narratives, which the reader is able to contextualise because they represent the full spectrum of living standards within the camp. As the protagonists highlight particular themes such as humanitarian aid, food insecurity, education, health, employment, the authors draw upon their wider research to explain how representative those accounts are of the wider population. The result is a comprehensive understanding of life in Kakuma, and an invitation to reflect on how we can combine human stories and statistics to support public understanding of the lives of distant strangers.
This is an open access title. It is available to read and download as a free PDF version on Oxford Academic and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International licence.
Based on long-term extensive research within the camp, including large-scale quantitative data collection, the authors worked with nine households located at different points on the camp's income distribution curve to tell their own stories in their own words. The result is nine in-depth narratives, which the reader is able to contextualise because they represent the full spectrum of living standards within the camp. As the protagonists highlight particular themes such as humanitarian aid, food insecurity, education, health, employment, the authors draw upon their wider research to explain how representative those accounts are of the wider population. The result is a comprehensive understanding of life in Kakuma, and an invitation to reflect on how we can combine human stories and statistics to support public understanding of the lives of distant strangers.
This is an open access title. It is available to read and download as a free PDF version on Oxford Academic and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International licence.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
27
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-19-791640-7 (9780197916407)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Olivier Sterck is Associate Professor at the University of Antwerp and the University of Oxford. He has published in leading journals including the Review of Economics and Statistics, the Economic Journal, and the Journal of Development Economics, and has collaborated with organizations such as the World Food Programme, the International Labour Organization, and the World Bank.
Madison Bakewell is the Programme Manager for the Refugee Economies Programme at the University of Oxford. A geographer by training, she holds an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford. She has conducted research on refugee livelihoods and humanitarian support in camps across Uganda and Kenya, and is interested in the role of storytelling in research and public engagement.
Raphael Bradenbrink is a researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. He combines quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on extended fieldwork in refugee settlements in Kenya and Ethiopia, and has worked with organizations including UNHCR, the World Food Programme, and UNESCO. He is also a filmmaker. His documentary work includes Refugee Stories, filmed in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya.
Alexander Betts is Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford. His books include The Wealth of Refugees (OUP, 2021), which won the ISA ENMISA Distinguished Book Award, and Social Science: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2024). He has received the ESRC Outstanding International Impact Award, and is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
Madison Bakewell is the Programme Manager for the Refugee Economies Programme at the University of Oxford. A geographer by training, she holds an MSc in Refugee and Forced Migration Studies from the University of Oxford. She has conducted research on refugee livelihoods and humanitarian support in camps across Uganda and Kenya, and is interested in the role of storytelling in research and public engagement.
Raphael Bradenbrink is a researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford. He combines quantitative and qualitative methods, drawing on extended fieldwork in refugee settlements in Kenya and Ethiopia, and has worked with organizations including UNHCR, the World Food Programme, and UNESCO. He is also a filmmaker. His documentary work includes Refugee Stories, filmed in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya.
Alexander Betts is Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford. His books include The Wealth of Refugees (OUP, 2021), which won the ISA ENMISA Distinguished Book Award, and Social Science: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2024). He has received the ESRC Outstanding International Impact Award, and is a Fellow of the British Academy and the Academy of Social Sciences.
Author
Associate ProfessorAssociate Professor, University of Antwerp and University of Oxford
Programme Manager, Refugee Economies ProgrammeProgramme Manager, Refugee Economies Programme, University of Oxford
Researcher, Refugee Studies CentreResearcher, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford
Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, and Pro-Vice-ChancellorProfessor of Forced Migration and International Affairs, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford