Methodologies
Methodologies
TSAS WP18-02 ‘How “Alone” are Lone-Actors? Exploring the Ideological, Signaling, and Support Networks of Lone-Actor Terrorists’
The threat of lone-actor terrorism poses a unique challenge to security practitioners tasked with detecting, identifying, and preventing acts of ideologically and politically-motivated violence. Conventional knowledge and early academic work – …
TSAS WP17-01: A Concurrent Evaluation of Threat Assessment Tools for the Individual Assessment of Terrorism
This research examines what is the content overlap among three tools that may be relevant for assessing an individual’s risk for terrorist violence: Version 3 of the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management—20 (HCR-20 – …
TSAS WP16-14: Talking to Foreign Fighters: Socio-Economic Push versus Existential Pull Factors
The research acquired primary data through interviews with foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, the families and friends of such fighters, and other online supporters of jihadism, to better understand – …
TSAS WP16-13: Trying to Talk to Terrorists: Ethical and Methodological Challenges in Canada
Scholars have long shied away from talking to terrorists. This is because there are significant methodological and ethical problems posed by such research. How can we manage those challenges and – …
Sentiment-Based Identification of Radical Authors (SIRA)
Abstract: As violent extremists continue to surface in online discussion forums, counter-extremism agencies search for new and innovative ways of uncovering their digital indicators. Using a sample of approximately 1 – …
The relevance and application of empirical research methods to the study of international crimes
Introduction The international criminalization of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes has been followed by a vast amount of published work on the legal instruments and institutions dealing with – …
“Networking in Child Exploitation – Assessing disruption strategies using registrant information
Clustering Heterogeneous Semi-Structured Social Science Datasets
Deception in Speeches of Candidates for Public Office
Sentiment Crawling: Extremist Content Collection through a Sentiment Analysis Guided Web-Crawler
Sentiment-Based Identification of Radical Authors (SIRA)
From Seeds to Orchards: Using Evidence-Based Policing to Address Canada’s Policing Research Needs.
An experimental test of deviant modeling
The ecology of trust among hackers
Abstract: Malicious hackers profit from the division of labour among highly skilled associates. However, duplicity and betrayal form an intrinsic part of their daily operations. This article examines how a – …
Voices of the Caucasus Emirate: Mapping and analyzing North Caucasus insurgency websites.
Abstract: This article looks at Internet use by insurgent groups in the North Caucasus in the context of a regional diffusion of violence. Using a mixed methods research design that – …
Lessons from conducting trans-national Internet-mediated participatory research with hidden populations of cannabis cultivators
Abstract Background: Internet-mediated research methods are increasingly used to access hidden populations. The International Cannabis Cultivation Questionnaire (ICCQ) is an online survey designed to facilitate international comparisons into the relatively – …
Social Network Analysis and ‘Dark’ Networks: An Analysis of the London Bombers and the Problem of ‘Fuzzy’ Boundaries
Abstract: Social network analysis (SNA) is believed to be capable of revealing significant insights into crime and terror groups, including identifying important individuals and unique approaches to disruption. However, SNA – …
Tendances violentes de la droite radicale au Canada: analyses chronologiques et facteurs d’influence
The lack of right-wing political parties at the national scale is, among other things, a reason why only a few studies have looked at the factors shaping farright violent incidents – …
L’analyse du risque géopolitique: du plausible au probable
Abstract: This paper is going to explore the logical process behind risk analysis, particularly in geopolitics. The main goal is to demonstrate the ambiguities behind risk calculation and to highlight – …
(Dés)organisation et dynamiques identitaires du mouvement skinhead au Québec : une étude exploratoire
The Surveillance Of Social Networking And The Social Value Of Privacy
This chapter argues that theories about privacy would benefit from embracing deliberative democratic theory on the grounds that it addresses harms to democracy, and widens our understandings of privacy infringements – …
A Systematic Approach to Develop a Computational Framework for Counter-terrorism and Public Safety
Neighbourhood Effects on Fear of Crime in Canada
Fear of crime is a social problem with potentially serious consequences, including altering or restricting one’s behaviour. Changes to one’s routine for this purpose are known as constrained behaviours. Although – …
Advances in Research on Illicit Networks
Social network analysis finally reached a critical mass of scholars in the field of criminology. The proven track record of network theory and methods in fostering new advances in our – …
Social Networks, Terrorism, and Counter-Terrorism: Radical and Connected
This book examines two key themes in terrorism studies, the radicalization process and counter-terrorism policies, through the lens of social networks. The book aims to show that networks should be – …
TSAS WP16-09: Social impacts of the securitized arrival experiences of in-Canada refugee claimants
This multi-sited research included qualitative interviews with 19 in-Canada refugee claimants declared convention refugees under the new (since Dec 1, 2012) immigration legislation. The research sought to answer two questions: – …
TSAS WP16-07: Cheering on the Jihad: An Exploration of Women’s Participation in Online Pro-jihadist Networks
This paper poses the following questions: 1. Can identifiable patterns of engagement by female posters be discerned based on content of posts? 2. Does the type of the jihadist group – …
Why bother? Death, Failure, and Fatalistic Withdrawal from life
Anxiety and the Approach of Idealistic Meaning
This chapter will provide an overview of some of our research on meaning-related motivational processes. We outline our Reactive Approach Motivation theory, which offers a goal-regulation perspective on anxiety and – …