Toward a Conceptual Framework for Mixed-Method Evaluation Designs
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A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE RISK FACTORS FOR RADICALIZATION: PERCEIVED ISLAMOPHOBIA, IDENTITY CRISIS, AND POOR INTEGRATION by MEHMET FATIH BASTUG A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Global Affairs written under the direction of Dr. Norman Samuels and approved by Dr. Leslie Kennedy Dr. Mercer Sullivan Dr. Murat Ozer Newark, New Jersey May, 2016 2016 Mehmet Fatih Bastug ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION A Cross-national Study of the Relationships among the Risk Factors for Radicalization: Perceived Islamophobia, Identity Crisis, and Poor Integration By MEHMET FATIH BASTUG Dissertation Director: Dr. Norman Samuels Existing literature on radicalization leading to violent extremism covers a wide range of issues and areas of concern, including theories and models of radicalization and the radicalization process, as well as triggers, catalysts, and risk factors for the emergence of radicalization. Scholars have identified various risk factors that influence the likelihood of violent radicalization. However, a review of literature on radicalization reveals that there is a lack of thorough analysis of how major risk factors relate to each other. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between major risk factors for radicalization by combining them in a single model. Three risk factors were selected for this study: perceived Islamophobia, poor integration, and identity crisis. These risk factors are critical for understanding the early stages of the radicalization process of Muslim individuals who live in Western societies. This study utilized a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, employing both quantitative and qualitative analysis. Data was collected using a ii survey of 180 Turkish-Americans and 118 Turkish-Canadians and interviews with 10 opinion leaders. The researcher proposed four hypotheses to investigate the relationships between the three aforementioned risk factors and used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test these hypotheses. The results showed that both perceived Islamophobia and poor integration were predictors of identity crisis in both samples. No significant relationship was observed between perceived Islamophobia and poor integration. The results also revealed some differences between the two samples. Perceived Islamophobia was significantly higher for the sample of Turkish-Americans. Additionally, higher perceived Islamophobia among Turkish-Americans predicted weaker identification with the host country. On the other hand, stronger religious identification among Turkish-Canadians predicted lower levels of integration. It is necessary to emphasize that this study did not explore whether the participants did or did not adopt radical ideologies. Rather, the researcher focused on the relationships among the risk factors that might make Muslim minorities more vulnerable to radicalization. The study concluded that it is important to take measures to counter Islamophobia and to facilitate the integration of Muslim minorities in order to lessen the likelihood that they will experience an identity crisis. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I want to express my appreciation to many people who have supported this study. First and foremost, I would like to thank my advisor, Dr. Norman Samuels, for his academic guidance, enormous support, and encouragement. I could not have finished my dissertation without his constant guidance and assistance. He has always been very helpful, responsive, and patient in this process. He has been a wonderful mentor and I am extremely grateful to him for all his support. I am also very grateful to my committee members, Dr. Leslie Kennedy, Dr. Mercer Sullivan, and Dr. Murat Ozer for their advice and recommendations about this study. This research was supported by a Dissertation Fellowship from the Graduate School-Newark (GSN), for which I am also grateful. I would like to thank my friends Davut Akca, Suray Duygulu, Mustafa Demir, Ismail Onat and Seref Onder for their friendship, comments, support and encouragement. Special acknowledgement is given also to the staff of the Division of Global Affairs (DGA), particularly to Ann Martin for their consistent help during my PhD study. I would like to thank my parents for supporting me throughout my life and believing in my personal goals. They have always been an unending source of inspiration for me. Finally, my special thanks go to my beloved wife Feyza, and my beloved son Yavuz for their priceless support and understanding throughout my PhD. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION .................................................................. II ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...................................................................................... IV TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................ V LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. IX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ................................................................................... X CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1 Purpose of the Study ....................................................................................... 5 Research Questions and Hypotheses ............................................................. 5 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................. 7 Radicalization .................................................................................................. 7 Radicalization Models ..................................................................................... 8 The NYPD's four-stage radicalization process. .......................................... 8 Wiktorowicz’s al-Muhajiroun model. ......................................................... 12 Borum's Pathway to Radicalization. ......................................................... 13 Moghaddam’s Staircase to Terrorism. ...................................................... 14 Sageman's Four Prongs Model................................................................ 16 Risk Factors for Radicalization ...................................................................... 17 Perceived Islamophobia. .......................................................................... 18 Islamophobia. ........................................................................................ 19 Islamophobia in the West. ..................................................................... 22 Perceptions of Islamophobia among Muslim immigrants in the West. .. 29 v Identity-related issues. ............................................................................. 32 Social identity. ....................................................................................... 33 Rejection-Identification Model. .............................................................. 36 Rejection-Disidentification Model. ......................................................... 41 Poor integration. ...................................................................................... 42 Acculturation attitudes. .......................................................................... 43 Turkish Immigrants in the United States and Canada ................................... 49 Summary ....................................................................................................... 52 CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................... 53 Research Design ........................................................................................... 53 Phase 1: Quantitative Study .......................................................................... 58 Population and sample. ........................................................................... 58 Data collection. ........................................................................................ 59 Measures. ................................................................................................ 60 Exogenous (independent) variables. ..................................................... 60 Perceived Islamophobia. .................................................................... 60 Endogenous outcome (dependent) variables. ....................................... 61 Identity crisis. ...................................................................................... 61 Endogenous mediator variables. ........................................................... 61 Religious identification. ....................................................................... 61 National identification. ........................................................................ 62 Integration. ......................................................................................... 62 Data analysis. .......................................................................................... 63 vi Reliability and validity. .............................................................................. 64 Phase 2: Qualitative Study ............................................................................ 64 Population and sample. ........................................................................... 65 Data collection. .......................................................................................