Management and data processing of quantitative terrorism research in the European Union and the Czech Republic

Abstract

PURPOSE: The objective of this paper is to examine the discrepancy between a growing number of quantitative research on terrorism and the shortage of alternative sources of objective and reliable terrorism data.

DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: It compares Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and Europol´s TE-SAT reports for the key trends in number of incidents, casualties and country split for all 28 EU countries. In the case of Czechia the article adds also the national police statistics and illustrates the different perspectives and discrepancies generated by different data sets.

FINDINGS: It discusses the long-standing concern on inconsistency and coding methodology and relevance of the application of the international humanitarian law in a country which is not involved in any kind armed conflict which may lead to over-qualification of violent incidents as acts of terrorism, but also notes a specific dimension: the language barrier in sharing and comparing data on the international level.

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The article calls for an intensified collaboration, prioritization of actions to address the existing evidence gaps and an increased responsibility of institutions funded by public budgets in collecting, processing and making available the terrorism data.

ORIGINALITY/VALUE: In the terrorism research, aggregate data are valuable. We need a good understanding of the specifics of each data source, critically review and cross-check the data available for further research.