Assignment 1

Put yourself in the shoes of the Illinois Statewide Terrorism and Intelligence Center analysts who have just learned about the pump incident at the Curran-Gardner water plant. Use the following Getting Started Checklist questions to launch your analysis. Answer all 10 steps in the analysis.

Step 1: What has prompted the need for the analysis? For example, was it a news report, a new intelligence report, a new development, a perception of change, or a customer request?

Step 2: What is the key question that needs to be answered?

Step 3: Why is this issue important, and how can analysis make a meaningful contribution?

Step 4: Has your or another organization ever answered this or a similar question before, and, if so, what was said? To whom was this analysis delivered, and what has changed since that time?

Step 5: Who are the principal customers? Are these customers needs well understood? If not, try to gain a better understanding of their needs and the style of the reporting they like.

Step 6: Are there other stakeholders who would have an interest in the answer to this question? Who might have a different perspective and prefer that a different question be answered?

Step 7: From your first impressions, what are all the possible answers to this question? For example, what alternative explanations or outcomes should be considered before making an analytic judgment on the issue?

Step 8: Depending on responses to the previous questions, consider rewording the key question. Consider adding subordinate or supplemental questions.

Step 9: Generate a list of potential sources or streams of reporting to be explored.

Step 10: Who would you reach out to for their experience and expertise in other organizationsboth within and outside government.

For APA citation please refer to the book : Cases IN intelligence analysis structured analytic techniques in action second edition bu sarah miller Beebe and andolph H. Pherson

A A paper shows how an analyst would actually think through the problem

Assignment is about how analysts should approach the problem

when the information first appears, not about determining the final answer, Good analysts avoid jumping to conclusions

Primary goal is analytical reasoning