Scientia et Securitas
Volume/Issue:
Volume 4: Issue 1
15 years of analyzing the Global Terrorism Database: An overview
Author:
Zsombor Hermann Department of Criminal Psychology, Faculty of Law Enforcement, National University of Public Service Budapest Hungary; Nemzeti Közszolgálati Egyetem, Rendészettudományi Kar, Kriminálpszichológia Tanszék Budapest Magyarország

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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6013-5551
Pages:
51–58
Online Publication Date:
31 Aug 2023
Publication Date:
31 Aug 2023
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/112.2023.00139
Keywords:
Global Terrorism Database; research on terrorism; review; open-source data; empirical analysis;
Keywords (Hungarian):
Global Terrorism Database; terrorizmus-kutatás; áttekintés; nyílt forrású adatok; empirikus elemzés;
Open access

Summary.

This article provides an overview of research on terrorism using the Global Terrorism Database (GTD). It is an open-source database containing over 200,000 terrorist events, both domestic and transnational. After identifying seven prominent journals of terrorism, data were gathered on 442 articles citing the GTD. All were published between 2008 and the beginning of 2023. An increasing trend was found in the number of articles over the examined period, supporting the growing popularity of the GTD. Popular databases containing control variables were identified in the second part of the analysis. Finally, the most common research topics were introduced through examples. These included spatiotemporal trends, case studies, suicide bombers, and lone-wolf terrorists.

Összefoglalás.

Jelen kutatás áttekintést nyújt a nyílt forrású, Global Terrorism Database (GTD) nevű adatbázis terrorizmus kutatásában történő felhasználásáról. Az adatbázist 2007-ben tették közzé, ingyenesen elérhető bárki számára. Összesen több, mint 200.000 nemzetközi és belföldi terrorcselekményről tartalmaz adatokat. Az elmúlt 15 évben világszinten az egyik legjelentősebb terrorizmussal kapcsolatos nyilvános adatbázissá vált. A kutatás során először azonosítottam a terület 7 vezető folyóiratát, majd ezekből kigyűjtöttem az összes olyan, 2008 és 2023 eleje között megjelent publikációt, melyek hivatkoznak a GTD-re (n = 442). A megjelenési dátumukat elemezve megállapítottam, hogy az évente megjelent, erre az adatbázisra hivatkozó publikációk száma növekvő tendenciát követ. Ez azonban nem volt egyenletes. 2016 előtt lassú növekedés volt megfigyelhető, 2017-re viszont egy hirtelen ugrással elkezdett meredeken emelkedni a cikkek száma.

A 442 publikáció közül 50 nem volt elérhető, az absztrakt alapján pedig nem volt egyértelműen megállapítható a felhasznált adatbázis, vizsgált változók, így ezek nem kerültek bele az elemzésbe. Szintén kivontam az elemzésből a recenziókat, bibliográfiákat, szerkesztői ajánlásokat, konferenciaelőadások összefoglalóit, illetve azokat a cikkeket, ahol a GTD csak a szerző által idézett tanulmányban szerepel. Hatvanhat esetben a szerző (1) illusztrációként használt fel adatot, (2) a GTD terrorcselekmény definícióját idézte, vagy (3) a nyilvánosan elérhető adatbázisok bemutatása során említette meg ezt.

Végezetül 207 olyan publikáció maradt, ahol a szerző a GTD-ből nyert adatokat elemzett. Ezek vizsgálata során először megállapításra került, hogy a megjelenésük a teljes mintával azonos módon mutat növekvő tendenciát. A legtöbb kutatásban több adatbázist használtak a szerzők a GTD mellett, ezek jellemzően szintén nyilvánosan elérhetők. Innen származnak általában a kontrollváltozók, melyek politikai, kulturális, demográfiai, földrajzi, biztonsági és szociökonómiai területeket fednek le. Néhányan azonban saját adatbázist építettek különböző forrásokból. Következő lépésként példákon keresztül bemutatásra kerültek gyakori vizsgált témakörök. Ezek közé tartoznak tér- és időbeli tendenciák, terrorista csoportok és azok környezetükkel és egymással való kapcsolatainak elemzései. Szintén megjelentek öngyilkos merénylők, magányos elkövetők, illetve az állam és terrorista csoportok kapcsolatának vizsgálatai. Összességében az elemzés során bizonyosságot nyert, hogy a GTD jelentős hatással van a terrorizmus kutatására.

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Cover Scientia et Securitas
Scientia et Securitas
Online ISSN:
2732-2688

Editor-in-Chief:

Founding Editor-in-Chief:

  • Tamás NÉMETH

Managing Editor:

  • István SABJANICS (Ministry of Interior, Budapest, Hungary)

Editorial Board:

  • Attila ASZÓDI (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
  • Zoltán BIRKNER (University of Pannonia)
  • Valéria CSÉPE (Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Brain Imaging Centre)
  • Gergely DELI (University of Public Service)
  • Tamás DEZSŐ (Migration Research Institute)
  • Imre DOBÁK (University of Public Service)
  • Marcell Gyula GÁSPÁR (University of Miskolc)
  • József HALLER (University of Public Service)
  • Charaf HASSAN (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
  • Zoltán GYŐRI (Hungaricum Committee)
  • János JÓZSA (Budapest University of Technology and Economics)
  • András KOLTAY (National Media and Infocommunications Authority)
  • Gábor KOVÁCS (University of Public Service)
  • Levente KOVÁCS (Óbuda University)
  • Melinda KOVÁCS (Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE))
  • Miklós MARÓTH (Avicenna Institue of Middle Eastern Studies )
  • Judit MÓGOR (Ministry of Interior National Directorate General for Disaster Management)
  • József PALLO (University of Public Service)
  • István SABJANICS (Ministry of Interior)
  • Péter SZABÓ (Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE))
  • Miklós SZÓCSKA (Semmelweis University)

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