Towards a unified approach to data collection on covert networks.

Abstract

I start with identifying six key aspects of covert network data. Each of these aspects comes with a specific set of challenges and problems.

Each also comes with a specific set of theoretical opportunities, which may be addressed with better data With these aspects, I outline the problems first, then I show a potential solution, and I also show which theoretical question may be addressed, if sufficient attention is paid to a given aspect. I then follow with a discussion of some further considerations stemming from problems with secondary and missing data, concluding with a discussion of checklists and graph databases as more complex ways to systematically and transparently collect and store covert network data.