TerrorismTerrorism studies and the struggle for primary data
If research can only be as good as the data on which it is based, then the study of terrorism has been in serious trouble for decades. From the 1980s to the present-day, many of the field’s most influential scholars have lamented that a majority of articles rely on literature-review based methodologies and do not present any new, first-hand insights. As a result, much of what we know about terrorists and terrorism has been derived from media sources – sometimes brilliant accounts that provide fascinating insights, but often short newspaper pieces of questionable accuracy and limited level of detail.
If research can only be as good as the data on which it is based, then the study of terrorism has been in serious trouble for decades, writes Bart Schuurman of the University of Leiden.
From the 1980s to the present-day, many of the field’s most influential scholars have lamented that a majority of articles rely on literature-review based methodologies and do not present any new, first-hand insights. Instead of authors talking with (former) terrorists, perusing the archives of counterterrorism agencies, administering psychological tests to extremists, or engaging in fieldwork, they have mostly resorted to talking amongst themselves. As a result, much of what we know about terrorists and terrorism has been derived from media sources – sometimes brilliant accounts that provide fascinating insights, but often short newspaper pieces of questionable accuracy and limited level of detail. Moreover, the field has put forward numerous explanations and theories of varying degrees of complexity, but has been unable to reliably assess their validity because the first-hand insights necessary to do so are few and far between.
University of Oslo notes that such arguments about the shaky empirical foundations of the field will be familiar to any student of terrorism who has had more than a passing interest in the subject. But that is perhaps one of the reasons why these issues have persisted for so long. Research on terrorism can be dated as far back as the 1960s, but came into particular prominence after the 9/11 attacks. These events, and the “war on terror” that followed them, ensured that terrorism became a semi-permanent fixture within Western politics, society and media.
