Knowra Intelligence analysis Intelligence analysis Intelligence analysis is the evaluation and interpretation of information to produce judgments about a subject. It distinguishes evidence from inference and communicates uncertainty to decision-makers.
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses : A structured method that compares evidence against multiple explanations to identify the hypothesis least contradicted. It makes analysts test alternatives rather than build a case for their favored explanation.
Intelligence cycle : A model of intelligence work linking requirements, collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination. It places analysis within the larger process that supplies and uses its judgments.
Intelligence collection : The acquisition of information relevant to intelligence requirements from human, technical, and open sources. Collection obtains information; analysis interprets what that information means.
Intelligence failure : A significant failure to collect, interpret, or communicate intelligence needed for a decision. Failures reveal how flawed judgments or communication can leave decision-makers unprepared.
Iraq WMD intelligence controversy : The controversy over pre-2003 assessments that Iraq possessed active programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. Postwar reviews examined how assumptions and reporting errors shaped a consequential judgment.
Key assumptions check : A technique that identifies and tests assumptions on which an analysis depends. It exposes hidden premises that can make an intelligence judgment fragile.
Source evaluation : The assessment of a source's access, reliability, and possible biases. Judgments depend partly on how much confidence each source deserves.
Policy analysis : The systematic assessment of policy problems and options, including their likely effects. Policy analysis compares courses of action, while intelligence analysis assesses subjects and developments.
Groupthink : A pattern of group decision-making in which pressure for agreement suppresses critical evaluation. Conformity can narrow the alternatives considered in an analytic team.
Cuban Missile Crisis : The 1962 confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union over Soviet missiles in Cuba. Reconnaissance imagery and interpretation helped establish the presence of Soviet missile sites.
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