NCJ Number
159626
Journal
Conflict Quarterly Volume: 8 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1988) Pages: 47-64
Date Published
1988
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This paper reviews the conceptual and methodological problems involved in studying terrorism in general and in Canada as a step toward developing more reliable data, interpretation, and analysis of the patterns and trends of terrorism in Canada.
Abstract
Problems with studying political terrorism include the definition of terrorism, inadequate theory development, and a lack of good empirical research. The main problems with studying political terrorism in Canada include the difficulty of studying political violence in Canada, the lack of rigorous analysis, reliance on theoretical case studies, and a paucity of empirical analyses. The most commonly used methods for empirically analyzing terrorism are direct observation, content analyses of terrorists' self-reports, survey research, and aggregate data analyses. The aggregate data approach would be most appropriate for understanding the scope, intensity, and range of political terrorism in Canada. Developing a general, sound, and accepted means to measure political terrorism entails a monumental amount of work; measurement flaws will undoubtedly remain that may produce misleading conclusions. However, awareness of these problems should help in creating a reliable and useful data set on political terrorism in Canada. Reference notes