Conceptualizing Your Topic

As you begin your project, the first question to ask is how best can I support my client or policymaker. The Analytic Spectrum (see Figure 3.1) describes the various categories of analysis they are seeking. A second question to address is: What are the essential questions I must understand and answer and what are the building-block questions that underlie the reason for interest in my topic. When formulating the essential and fundamental questions that you should address, think about what differentiates one question from another. A good question should be relevant, timely, precisely worded, actionable, and answerable in more than one way. In the world of intelligence analysis, far more energy is devoted to assessing the credibility of testimonial information, which is defined as reporting derived from human sources, informants, or assets. The traditional use of two criteria to establish the quality of human source reporting – access and reliability – is far too simplistic and can often be misleading.