The Disconnect Between Academia and Practitioners

: Barriers for Terrorism Research

Abstract

This thesis aims to explore the academic-practitioner relationship within terrorism studies, identify limitations and opportunities, and determine the presence of a disconnect or otherwise. The academic-practitioner relationship is unexplored from the perspectives of the professionals within terrorism studies; therefore this thesis aims to address this gap. The challenges facing terrorism research are widely experienced, with reviews of the literature documenting issues including methodological issues and data access barriers, including Sageman’s (2014) notorious article citing stagnation in terrorism studies. However, the impact on wider relationships with practice is rarely explored, and similarly, the issues facing practitioners. Expert participants were defined as academics and practitioners operating as scholars with a keen interest in terrorism research or as practitioners operating in counterterrorism efforts, identified through their contributions to the field as researchers, or through their public profiles. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with academic and practitioner experts, allowing for experts to provide their experiences and opinions on the challenges and opportunities of the field facing their profession. This resulted in three themes being identified, forming the structure of the findings chapters: Scholarly & Professional Issues, Knowledge Exchange & Communication and Networking & Relationships. This provided an overview of the challenges facing the individual communities and alluded to wider issues contributing to the academic-practitioner divide within terrorism studies. Moreover, this thesis provides a platform for the challenges faced by academics and practitioners in terrorism studies, improves awareness of the challenges facing each community and identifies opportunities for reducing any disconnects, to facilitate an effective and successful academic-practitioner relationship.

Date of Award	17 Mar 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Winchester
Supervisor	Tim Hall (Supervisor) & Ulrike Ziemer (Supervisor)