Analytic Culture in the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF) - CIA

CHAPTER ELEVEN
observational data could have been sorted into several categories, I based the
placement of the data on the question that generated the interview response.
Table 1. Q-Sort 1. Data Grouping According to Organizational Function.
National – Technical Defense Law Enforcement –
Homeland Security
Central Intelligence Defense Intelligence Department of
Agency Agency Homeland Security
National Security Army Intelligence Federal Bureau of
Agency
Investigation
National Air Force Intelligence Department of Energy
Reconnaissance Office
National Geospatial Navy Intelligence Department of the
Intelligence Agency
Treasury
Department of State Marine Corps Drug Enforcement
(INR) Intelligence Administration
In several instances throughout the text, the quotes that were used may well
fit in a number of other categories. Once the data were sorted by variable, the
coding and context identifier notes were removed from all data in order to
assure participant anonymity, in keeping with the American Anthropological
Association Code of Ethics, section III, A. 3
Table 2. Q-Sort 2. Data Grouping According to Variable Categories.
Time
Constraints
Analytic
Methods
Organizational
Norms
Analytic
Identity
Analytic
Training
Products Tradecraft Taboos Reportorial Formal
Interactions Science Biases Academic Informal
The quotes that appear throughout the text are exemplars from each variable
category and indicate trends found in the data-set. Although the exemplar
quotes are not universal, nor are they necessarily subject to generalization,
they do represent consistent findings from the interview and observation data.
Utilizing this approach to develop theory is similar to the method in which
grounded theory is employed in sociology, specifically, using grounded data
to generate theory rather than using some a priori technique. The significant
advantage to this approach is that the theory is directly tied to data, providing
it additional validity. Another advantage is that the individuals who allowed
me to interview and observe them are given some voice in the final product by
way of direct quotes, which also provides some qualitative context.
3
American Anthropological Association, Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association.
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