Strengths and Weaknesses of Open Source Data for Studying Terrorism and Political Radicalization
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12408024 |
|---|---|
| Authors | G Lafree (0000-0001-8418-1440, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA, corresponding author), Paul Gill (0000-0002-9606-9197, Department of Security and Crime Science, University College London, London, England) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Pages | 1-17 |
| Publication date | 2024-06-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in Conflict and Terrorism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1057-610X • E-ISSN: 1521-0731 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1057610x.2024.2361948 |
| OpenAlex | W4399355888 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
Compared to studying other forms of illegal violence, terrorism research faces unique data challenges. Notably, consistent police data are generally lacking, victims often have no direct knowledge of attacks and are sometimes killed, and perpetrators are difficult to interview and are often unreliable sources. In the face of these data challenges, the increasing availability of open source data on terrorist attacks and perpetrators has profoundly affected the scientific study of terrorism. Over time, a growing proportion of published academic research on terrorism—especially more heavily quantitative studies—relies on open source data. Moreover, the growing availability of individual-level terrorism data has allowed empirical tests of psychological and social-psychological theories of radicalization. In this paper, we assess the impact of open source data on the study of terrorism. We begin with an overview, providing a brief history of terrorist attack and perpetrator open source data bases. We then consider the major strengths and weaknesses of both types of open source data and suggest ways of countering the weaknesses. We close with observations about the impact of open source data on terrorism research and future opportunities for improvement
Criminology · Open source · Political science · Politics · Radicalization · Sociology · Strengths and weaknesses · Terrorism · Computer Science · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and Political Violence
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |