Methodological Approach
The conflict research in Heidelberg comprises the work of two research establishments located at the Department of Political Science at the University of Heidelberg: of the HIIK founded in 1991 and the research group of the Conflict Information System (CONIS Group) working since 2005. Both can be classed with the branch of the quantitative conflict research, which is pursueing the goal of empirically gathering the conflict events with their diversity and enriching the research on causes of war by revealing causal patterns.
The Conflict Barometer published by the HIIK as well as the CONIS database are standing in the tradition of qualitative research concerning their definition and operationalisation of conflict: the quality of the conflict performance is used as the basis of a conception of political conflicts. In contradistinction to other approaches, the conflict research in Heidelberg is also gathering the measures and events and using them as the initial point for the acquisation of a conflict and the determination of its intensity. Thereby only, conflicts and their determination can be comprehensible intersubjectively.
Conflict Definition
According to the new conflict methodology in Heidelberg, the HIIK understands a political conflict as a positional difference regarding values relevant to a society – the conflict items – between at least two decisive and directly involved actors, which is being carried out using observable and interrelated conflict means that lie beyond established regulatory procedures and threaten a core state function or the order of international law, or hold out the prospect to do so.
Dynamic Model of Conflicts
Regarding the intensity of a political conflict the HIIK distinguishes five levels of intensity according to the dynamic conflict model: dispute, non-violent crises, violent crises, limited war und war. These levels of conflict are dintinguished by the stage of physical violence applied in the course of conflict. Important criterions to determine the level of violence are the instruments for the use of force (use of weapons and use of personnel) and the consequences of the use of force (casualties, refugees and demolition)
Most significant changes
Quantitative conflict research is a continuous process of research not only regarding the empirical and analytical matters, but also the methodological ones. The HIIK and the CONIS Group are refelcting this advancement in their new common methodology. Thereby, the conflict research in Heidelberg is getting more differentiated and systematized.
That is why the intensity of a conflict is no longer determined on the basis of nation states and calendar years, but on the basis of single political units on subnational level and calendar months. Furthermore, the determination of conflict intensities now is made by concret conceptualized indicators to evaluate the instruments for and consequences of the use of force. Nevertheless, this analysis still is based on the conflict actors' action and communication. By this conceptual defferentiation and standardization of the data acquisation a greater accuracy, reliability and replicability is achieved.
Additionally, the five levels of intensity were retained, but most of them renamed:| Intensity level | Old term | New term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | latent conflict | dispute |
| 2 | manifest conflict | non-violent crises |
| 3 | crises | violent crises |
| 4 | severe crises | limited war |
| 5 | war | war |