content analysis of al-qa'ida statements

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  • 7/29/2019 Content Analysis of Al-Qa'Ida Statements

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    nt Analysis of al-Qa'ida Statements - START - National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism

    www.start.umd.edu/start/research/investigators/project.asp?id=77[22-09-2013 02:28:13]

    Copyright 2010-2013 National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to TerrorismUniversity of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA | 301.405.6600 | [email protected] | http://www.start.umd.edu/start

    Site Release 3.0

    Content Analys is of al -Qa'ida Statements

    Investigator:

    Deborah Cai

    Project Period:

    June 2006 through May 2009

    Primary Findings:

    This project involved the coding of 58 transcripts from al-Qa'ida leaders, especially from bin Laden and al-Zawahiri, for the

    types of communication tactics they use in their persuasive messages between 1998 and 2006. Specific information, such as

    the referent content of the messages and the related negative to positive valence associated with those referents, as well as

    broader communication tactics such as compliance gaining and the justification and motivations for actions were coded.

    The major findings from this project have been related to the type of rhetorical approach used by al-Qa'ida (AQ) leaders,

    namely that there argumentation is of a style that reflects an Arab cultural approach to persuasion. What would be considered

    extreme, overblown tactics in English-speaking approaches to argumentation is not unusual in this cultural style of argument.

    One of the challenges with this style of argument is that style and substance can easily be confused, especially because the

    AQ leaders persuasion is related to violent activity, which itself is extremist in its valence. This approach to argumentation

    needs to be better understood from a communication perspective, so that the content of the message can be interpreted

    correctly by separating what in the message is hyperbolic style and what in the message is a real threat.

    Methodology:

    The primary method used for these analyses has been an extensive and labor-intensive process of coding the 58 transcripts.

    This process has provided extensive data set of coded referents and valences as well as coded tactics such as compliance

    gaining and motivation/justification for actions. These data have then been analyzed statistically for trends over time

    regarding the referents, i.e., are there shifts in the valence communicated about various referents, from national entities, suchas the U.S. and Israel, to people groups, such as Christians and Jews. The secondary method used has involved qualitative

    analysis, which takes into account the argumentation approach toward persuasion. This coding process, in particular, has

    been extremely time consuming to code, organize and analyze. But until recently, this has been one of the primary

    approaches to conduct content analysis of these types of messages, but the resulting data have been used to consider how

    to develop new approaches involving computer science to analyze the rhetorical style and the language.

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