I’ve added a DRAFT paper that was prepared for the ISA ISSS-ISAC conference in Washington, DC in early October. I was unable to circulate the paper at the conference itself. It still needs work with respect to the design of a true research and development program in order to bring the ideas put forward to life, but there seems to be a strong desire on the part of many I’ve spoken with to explore the relationship between analytic tradecraft, technology, and the interface between intelligence producers and consumers.
Continue Reading→Category: Analysis
Interview with Carmen Medina
On June 5 and July 3 2012 I had the opportunity to talk with Carmen Medina (CM) in person and then follow-up with her over email correspondence. What follows is my summary of our extended discussion. As was the case with Leon Fuerth, CM did not have an opportunity to review my summary and correct any points that I may have misunderstood. Please keep that in mind when reading my characterization of her views in the event that I have misrepresented her ideas or experiences.
Continue Reading→Interview with Leon Fuerth
This post continues the series of interviews I performed during my dissertation research on Agent-Based Modeling, intelligence analysis and policy-making. My interview with Leon Fuerth was the first in the series, and provided me several insights that shaped my research and subsequent interviews (most of which have since been posted already). Importantly, this is one of three final interviews where the subject was not able to review the transcript and provide any clarifying remarks. While I do believe that my write up accurately captured his comments, it is possible that interpretive errors do exist that have not been corrected.
Continue Reading→Interview with Barry Leven
This interview was one of the longest of the several that I performed during my dissertation research. My conversation with Barry largely encapsulated a much longer and ongoing dialog that has been ongoing since he originally hired me at Booz Allen Hamilton when I graduated from college. While he retired from industry shortly after I started my career, we remain in contact and speak regularly. Thus, many of the questions and comments in the interview below hint at a larger exchange that started almost sixteen years ago and remain in development.
Continue Reading→Some Thoughts About Handling Empirical Data in the Social Sciences
I was recently asked to review some grant applications for several social science research projects of relevance to national security. The applications are interesting and I’ve enjoyed seeing the proposal process from a new perspective. However, I’ve noted a common theme regarding the handling of data that I think is intuitively problematic with respect to theory building given my own interest in epistemology and the robustness of any claims that can be made from our research.
Continue Reading→Interview with James Bruce, Senior Political Scientist, RAND
This post provides another summary from an interview I conducted as part of my dissertation research and is included in the Appendix of the final,now completed version. I have known Dr. Bruce since 1998 when I was a student of his at Georgetown.
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