@article{ref1,
title="Where terror lies: misrepresentation of extremist attitudes and terrorist attacks in the Sahel",
journal="Terrorism and political violence",
year="2023",
author="Finkel, Steven E. and McCauley, John F. and Neureiter, Michael and Belasco, Christopher A.",
volume="35",
number="4",
pages="888-907",
abstract="Researchers have commonly treated misrepresentations in survey responses as an impediment to the accurate measurement of a variable or construct of substantive importance. This study builds on that approach and considers whether misreporting bias regarding support for violent extremism--both under- and over-reporting--may then have consequences for how terrorist violence itself unfolds. Using data from nearly 4,000 respondents in thirty-five communes in Burkina Faso, Chad, and Niger collected just prior to a recent wave of terrorist attacks, we find that communes where individuals under-report their true support for violent extremism--as measured with unobtrusive experimental methods--have a greater probability of experiencing subsequent Islamist attacks, controlling for socio-demographic characteristics of the commune, country-level proximity effects, and other time-varying factors. The findings raise important considerations regarding the measurement of extremist support, and they suggest a new tool for identifying communities potentially susceptible to terrorist violence.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0954-6553",
doi="10.1080/09546553.2021.1987893",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2021.1987893"
}