Intelligence Analysis: Exploring The Scientific Method

The analysis is then given to consumers and policy makers, once it is checked by the analyst supervisor and peers. The analyst should also be ready to give a briefing on short notice. But both the analyst and the policy maker or consumer have to be aware of at all times, is that the intelligence field does not know everything. “On any given subject, the intelligence community faces what is in effect a field of rocks, and it lacks the resources to turn over every one to see what threats to national security may lurk underneath” (Pillar).

In today’s modern world of security threats, intelligence and the ability to respond to incidents are the keys to survival. As technology continues to change and advance, we also must change our security procedure and techniques. Dina Evans from LookingGlass has a good definition of threat intelligence, “We define threat intelligence as the combination of technical and contextual information regarding existing or emerging threats from all available sources. It has been evaluated and analyzed for accuracy, timeliness, and relevancy, and implemented among an organization’s tactical, operational, and strategic stakeholders.” (Evans, 2016). The process of threat intelligence feeds into all

For ILP to be successful there has to be a clear understanding of the functions and roles of intelligence and information when applied to the decision-making process (Shaible and Sheffield, 2011), and there also has to be a clear understanding of what intelligence is. One of the issues with the ILP model is not understanding hoe information is turned into intelligence. It’s important to point out that information doesn’t equate to intelligence. Intelligence should be viewed as “information plus analysis”, and can also be defined as “Intelligence is not what is collected; it is what is produced after collected data is evaluated and analyzed. (Peterson 2005, 10). Both definitions emphasize that the collection of information or data does not equate to actionable intelligence, instead that information has to be analyzed in order to influence polices and affect the targeting process in criminal investigations and operations (Ratcliff, 2003).

Intelligence is often defined as accurate and timely information that assists our nation’s senior leadership in making knowledgeable decisions to prepare for and counter any developing threats against the security of the United States and its citizens. Intelligence is collected in response to requirements levied on the intelligence community by senior policy makers, the military, and law enforcement agencies. It plays a crucial role in our ability to detect and prevent threats against the United States.

These structured tools are mostly manual procedures but over time they will be come more dependent on computer analysis. Some of the more effective methods today to avoid cognitive and perceptual bias are Red Team Analysis. This can avoid the pitfalls because you’re analyzing like the enemy and not as the US IC. This takes away the perceptual biases. Red Team analysis is trying to place the analyst in the same cultural background or organization as the target individual or group. Normally analysts work in the “blue” or friendly forces view, which can cloud your cognitive view. Red Team analysis frees the analyst from the prison of ones mind set or their cultural norms. This technique can allow the analysts to come up with a whole nother set of questions to ask themselves about a terrorist’s of terrorist cells (U.S. Government,

This paper examines poor intelligence utilization and how General (GEN) Robert E. Lee’s decision to realign his Army after the death of his strongest General influenced Confederate tactical operations. The Civil War was a crucial and poignant period in our country’s history. Leadership on both sides were pivotal to the triumph of the Union and the crumble of the Confederacy. The Battle of Gettysburg was a turning point for the Union and highlighted the weaknesses within Confederate intelligence capabilities. On July 1, 1863, GEN Lee’s Confederate Army initiated its second assault in Northern territory against the Union Army. GEN Lee’s Commanders were unable to accurately shape the battlefield in their favor due to a lack of intelligence officers

An intelligence analyst will evaluate data information on all types of sources, analyst are the ones who tap into phone calls and record the conversations, and they study sources about drugs, criminal activities’, money launderer’s, terrorism and all sorts of foreign threats. They obtain information by using law enforcement databases or by interrogating suspects. They work with other Agencies and government to interrogate suspects, share known information and coordinate activities. Analyst break down information and date so they can identify the principle for facts. They predict attacks and plots from outside sources to designate a counter attack or to provide information to stop the attack before it happens.

Fischhoff, B., & Chauvin, C. 2011. Intelligence analysis : behavioral and social scientific foundations. Washington, DC: National Academies Press.

For instance, most common domestic terrorists targeted National Security are gangs and other forms of terrorists inside the US. Intelligence is a solid component of past data that stays permanent. Current intelligence is the non-stop information gathering process to complete the puzzle. Collecting and analyzing the material is what is occurring at this time. Information can be changeable and is also a brainstorming of information. Intelligence estimates is the future information that can be presented as brainpower on a major problem solving technique in our country. Intelligence analysts design endless drills on a how to manual that states explanations on circumstances such as terrorist attacks, nuclear accident, biological war, etc. let’s not forget that all these intelligence techniques are designed to protect and maintain the integrity of our president, our country, its allies and

Throughout the intelligence cycle process the intelligence analyst is the driving force in each step of the process. An intelligence analyst provides guidance, which enables the collectors to focus and pinpoint the overall objective by highlighting key requirements. Further, the analyst conducts the analysis of collected information. Through critical thinking and experience the intelligence collect is completed or re-started, information gathered determines if the cycle moves forward or backwards. Consequently, during the intelligence cycle biases are introduced, making a finished product questionable. Biases are unnecessary but they at times exists, whether from the analyst or collection platform. Furthermore, planning a mission based on

Being an Intelligence Analyst means thinking creatively and identifying ways in how the position can add value to an investigation.

The United States Intelligence community draws on advanced technology and analytical techniques. An intelligence process that sets objectives, collects, analyzes, and report findings, with feedback loops integrated throughout. Explicitly, the intelligence community advantages technology and tradecraft within a proscribed process. However, estimation of threats and decision-making are outcomes of human thinking. Analysts and policymakers create mental models, or short cuts to manage complex, changing environments. In other words, to make sense of ambiguous or uncertain situations, humans form cognitive biases. Informed because of personal experience, education, and specifically applied to intelligence analysis, Davis

Introduction: Throughout the intelligence cycle there are five different phases of gathering information and making decisions on your analysis. The intelligence cycle contains 5 different phases that being planning, collection, processing exploitation, analysis, and dissemination. In the intelligence cycle we dive deep into articles pulling out every viable piece of information that may be useful in a case and do whatever it takes to get that information “no matter how it is obtained”. In the analysis of the intelligence cycle there are many different procedures that agencies follow for gathering information.

Intelligence is one of the first lines of defense used by the United States to protect the Country against both foreign and domestic threats (Johnson, 2010). There are many ways and methods of intelligence collections employed by the intelligence community such as “spies, eavesdropping, technical sources, and openly available materials” etc (Clark, 2013). Method used also depends on many factors such as available resources, time, agency involved, and intelligence collection source. U.S Intelligence agencies use different collection and analytical method that suit their collection function, structure and pro¬cess. For example, DNI/OSC relies on open source (OSINT), CIA uses human intelligence (HUMINT) tactic, DIA uses measurements and signatures intelligence (MASINT), NSA employs signals intelligence (SIGINT), and NGA utilizes imagery intelligence (IMINT) techniques for their intelligence collections (Clark, 2013).

PsycINFO was the database I used for this literature summary. Firstly, I searched articles relate to breastfeeding. I tried to exhaust the results on this topic by changing three kinds of phrasings (breast feeding, breastfeeding or breast fed), and they turned out to be 4,133. Secondly, I searched articles relate to intelligence and because of the numerous amount of studies in this field, I specified it by choosing the following interested scopes - cognitive ability, cognitive development, intelligence quotient, intelligence, and IQ. I also searched for cognitive measurement as a performance of intelligence, using Cognit* to widen the results. I added up the articles on intelligence and cognition by the OR Boolean operator and got 430,710 results. Next, I applied the AND Boolean operator to combine breastfeeding with intelligence and gained 262 pieces of studies. With the aim of exploring more about the confounding effect on past literature, I searched confound in three ways, namely confound, confounded or confounded. The previous 262 outcomes which were intersected with confound then attenuated to 22, this step also helped me narrow the scope down. All of the searches concentrated on title and abstract, expect for confounding I look it up in the whole context.