UNRWA's data on registered Palestinian refugees are of three categories, "family files," "registration records", and "service statistics." The family files are archives containing documents received and produced by UNRWA on the refugee families since UNRWA's inception. The registration records are UNRWA's files on registered refugees. The last category, service statistics, consists of data produced for administrative purposes. This information serves UNRWA's needs in its daily work and planning, and contains a variety of demographic, economic and social characteristics of the registered refugee population. A description of the data covered and a list of included variables are appended (Appendices 2, 3, 4, 6).

In the following sections we will present each of these three categories of data and discuss their potential for research. We will set forth suggestions for how the research value of the data might be enhanced, and outline examples of research projects that could be initiated using the UNRWA data.

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