A sociological research on the fear of terror and risk perception in Ankara

This study focuses on the fear of terror and the terror risk perception. The aim of the study is to reveal the terror risk perception of individuals who live in Ankara and had experienced more than one terrorist attacks before and the fear of individuals who were exposed to the terrorist attacks. A mixed method research was used in this study and findings were based on 400 questionnaires and 20 in-depth interviews. In the case of Ankara, this research was conducted with two groups. One of the these groups consists of those who frequently used central areas of Ankara where two major terrorist attacks were carried out, and the other groups consists of individual who were exposed to the terrorist attacks directly. The data obtained from the surveys were analysed through SPSS program and the data obtained from the interviews were analysed through the content analysis. These data are interpreted in a manner consistent with the logic of mixed patterns. The results show that the perceived terror risk and the fear level are significantly high. In the study, where the causal relationship between perceived terror risk and the fear of terror was determined, some variables such as gender, occupation, terror victimization and media were found to be determinants on this risk perception and the fear. The results also reveal that this risk perception and fear have a significant impact on the daily life practices of individuals and that individuals tend to refrain from going to certain areas in their daily lives. Another finding obtained in the study is that there is no significant demand for increasing measures of safety despite a level of high risk perception, fear and behaviour differences. Research findings show that as the age, education and income level decrease, the demand for security increase and there is a relationship between demand for security and socioeconomic backround.