The study of intra-state violence has been a main focus of scholars since the end of the Cold War, and in recent years particular attention has been paid to the consequences of civil wars on future political, social, and economic development. Yet, understanding the consequences of political violence requires a clear working definition of what we mean when we say that someone was “exposed to” or was “a victim of” violence. Researchers use disparate measures ranging from living in a country that is categorized as a civil war case, despite living hundreds of miles away from areas of conflict, to being displaced and losing most of one’s family members in attacks. In this essay, we offer conceptual clarification for various forms of victimization and indirect forms of exposure, present examples of works using these different measurement strategies, and examine how different measures affect findings using a sample of articles. We conclude with recommendations about indicators researchers can choose from and suggest that future research should probe further into the use of subjective measures of exposure.

中文翻译：

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作为解释变量的暴力暴露：不同指标的含义、测量和理论含义

自冷战结束以来，对国家内部暴力的研究一直是学者们的主要关注点，近年来特别关注内战对未来政治、社会和经济发展的影响。然而，理解政治暴力的后果需要对我们所说的某人“暴露于”暴力或“成为”暴力的受害者有一个明确的工作定义。研究人员使用了不同的措施，从生活在一个被归类为内战案例的国家，尽管生活在远离冲突地区数百英里的地方，到流离失所并在袭击中失去大部分家庭成员。在本文中，我们对各种形式的受害和间接形式的暴露进行了概念性澄清，展示了使用这些不同测量策略的作品示例，并使用文章样本检查不同的措施如何影响调查结果。我们总结了有关研究人员可以选择的指标的建议，并建议未来的研究应进一步探讨主观暴露测量的使用。