Speaking Truth to Sources: Introducing a Method for the Quantitative Evaluation of Open Sources in Event Data

Ackerman, Gary; Pinson, Lauren

doi:10.1080/1057610x.2016.1141000

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Certainly, as Behlendorf, Belur, and Kumar (2016) maintained, open-source databases can overrepresent those incidents that cause causalities. Second, as Ackerman and Pinson (2016) stated, the possibility of credibility and validity issues exists. With regard to terrorism research, there are no existing data sets that evaluate such factors (Ackerman & Pinson, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, as Ackerman and Pinson (2016) stated, the possibility of credibility and validity issues exists. With regard to terrorism research, there are no existing data sets that evaluate such factors (Ackerman & Pinson, 2016). Given these limitations, the GTD is still arguably the most comprehensive and well-defined open-source database of terrorist incidents in existence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Global Jihadist Movement: The Most Lethal Ideology?

Carson

Suppenbach

2017

Homicide Studies

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Prior research has established a link between ideology and lethality, both within the homicide and terrorism literatures. We examine this relationship as it pertains to the Global Jihadist Movement (GJM). Using a series of logit and negative binomial models with a sample from the Global Terrorism Database, we find that the GJM is indeed more deadly. However, this relationship does not seem to differentially affect Americans, despite their role as the GJM’s defined “other.”

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Global Jihadist Movement: The Most Lethal Ideology?

Carson

Suppenbach

2017

Homicide Studies

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“…While there has been a continued effort in the field of corrections to critically examine the phenomenon of jail suicides, researchers have yet to incorporate open-source databases in their analyses. Also referred to as publicly available data, open-source search protocols have been frequently utilized to develop datasets to study a diverse range of social science phenomena (see Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ; Chandra et al 2014 ; Gruenwald et al 2013 ), particularly those surrounding controversial social issues (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ). However, it is critical that researchers building open-source datasets explicitly engage in a rigorous evaluation process of both the source(s) and information gathered (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Also referred to as publicly available data, open-source search protocols have been frequently utilized to develop datasets to study a diverse range of social science phenomena (see Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ; Chandra et al 2014 ; Gruenwald et al 2013 ), particularly those surrounding controversial social issues (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ). However, it is critical that researchers building open-source datasets explicitly engage in a rigorous evaluation process of both the source(s) and information gathered (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ). Furthermore, these researchers also posit that transparency is critical and “that any procedures should be … explicitly coded into the database itself” (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 , p. 623).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, it is critical that researchers building open-source datasets explicitly engage in a rigorous evaluation process of both the source(s) and information gathered (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 ). Furthermore, these researchers also posit that transparency is critical and “that any procedures should be … explicitly coded into the database itself” (Ackerman and Pinson 2016 , p. 623).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The validity of open-source data when assessing jail suicides

2018

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BackgroundThe Bureau of Justice Statistics’ Deaths in Custody Reporting Program is the primary source for jail suicide research, though the data is restricted from general dissemination. This study is the first to examine whether jail suicide data obtained from publicly available sources can help inform our understanding of this serious public health problem.MethodsOf the 304 suicides that were reported through the DCRP in 2009, roughly 56 percent (N = 170) of those suicides were identified through the open-source search protocol. Each of the sources was assessed based on how much information was collected on the incident and the types of variables available. A descriptive analysis was then conducted on the variables that were present in both data sources. The four variables present in each data source were: (1) demographic characteristics of the victim, (2) the location of occurrence within the facility, (3) the location of occurrence by state, and (4) the size of the facility.ResultsFindings demonstrate that the prevalence and correlates of jail suicides are extremely similar in both open-source and official data. However, for almost every variable measured, open-source data captured as much information as official data did, if not more. Further, variables not found in official data were identified in the open-source database, thus allowing researchers to have a more nuanced understanding of the situational characteristics of the event.ConclusionsThis research provides support for the argument in favor of including open-source data in jail suicide research as it illustrates how open-source data can be used to provide additional information not originally found in official data. In sum, this research is vital in terms of possible suicide prevention, which may be directly linked to being able to manipulate environmental factors.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s40352-018-0069-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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