Research inquiry methods and approaches

Terrorism

Research Issues on the Topic of Terrorism

Written into the very word, terrorism is a fascinating social problem worth inquiry. The meaning of terrorism is an act of violence or other that paralyses the individual or society with a feeling of terror. That terror can be a product of the relative infrequency and therefore surprise and seeming senselessness associated with the event, such as in the case of large scale and broad violent acts against larger populations (like 9/11, or the Oklahoma City bombing in the U.S.). The form of terror might also grow out of the expectation of debilitating acts against others as a standard operating procedure during certain circumstances (like the support and at the very least complicity of commanders in times of often ethnic war where women of the "enemy" are frequently and violently raped as an act of aggression and show of power).

Though the impetus and even the degree of "terror" can vary greatly and even have different character due to its cause it is a defining aspect of terrorism, at least part if not all of the perpetrators intent is to strike terror into the hearts of individuals being attacked or who anticipate attack. One social problem associated with the issue of terror is how close does one have to be to have such terror remake their long-term daily sense of well-being and therefore demonstrate a sense of success for the terrorist, and at what point does that terror dissipate resulting in what some consider complacency. This type of research inquiry would be best done at the epicenter of an incident or ongoing incidents, i.e. among people present and then circulating out from an event or ongoing incident. The survey method would likely be used and the survey would likely be conducted electronically via email and/or support networking and/or collective interest chat boards, with survey inquiry and volunteer response.

This inquiry would therefore then be both site specific but individual in inquiry. Achieving access and rapport would have to take place in the form of a purposeful rather that random sampling strategy, i.e. those who directly experienced the events or vicariously experienced the events through the loss of another or the loss of community well-being. Collecting data would then not necessarily be indicative of anonymity nor would recording data or information as demographic information would be a necessary component of the inquiry. To resolve field issues the individual researcher would likely have to achieve unprecedented levels of access and rapport, therefore the participants would need to be invested in the project and its intent, even if it was just for the purpose of airing their feelings and grief about the events at a later date. In Ford, Adams, & Dailey who conducted post 9-11 research on health and well-being of individuals, something similar to what might be achieved to answer the above mentioned social problems; "Implications are discussed for using continuous time-sampling as a strategy to research patterns of relatively acute stress-related sequelae of terrorism in populations whose members are affected despite primarily not having been at the disaster epicenter," (2007, p. 129) The result of their work indicate that at about 3 months post event those who are not directly affected will likely be only limitedly affected by the events, though in the research inquiry here the sample would be more site specific, seeking to better understand longer term effects, such as fear of recurrence surrounding important data and other issues.

Resolving field issues in this situation is essential to achieving a purposeful inquiry as researchers are increasingly being asked to research populations with special characteristics, in this case those close to the epicenter of a terrorist attack. The reality is that most of this research must be done on a fresh scale as most institutional lists and/or databases limit information to retain anonymity and protect participants. Therefore as Rothbart, Fine, & Sudman stress, "As research becomes more pointed, more informed by what has gone before, and more oriented toward practical implications, general population surveys often prove inadequate…field-drawn samples have become increasingly essential to successful surveys." (1982, p. 409) Some examples of field issues might be the express impact of; yield, location problems, coverage bias, the effect of inclusion rule, cost savings, and ethnicity or many other possible field issues. Field issues and other issue might get even more difficult to address after much time has passed, for example it may have been relatively easy to locate identify and sample indirectly involved in the September 11 attacks but might now be much more difficult, do to transitory issues, relocation or simply individuals seeking not to readdress such issues therapeutically or otherwise and redress how they are and were affected by them presently. For instance Ford, Adams, & Dailey utilized research conducted very early on to present post-9/11 survey data on the outcomes of problems that were time sampled for three months after the events, rather than newly generated data to record and publish on sample that was not presented until 2007.