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Chapter 6
Analytical Methods
Major intelligence failures are usually caused by failures of analysis, not
failures of collection. Relevant information is discounted, misinterpreted,
ignored, rejected, or overlooked because it fails to t a prevailing mental
model or mind-set.
Richards Heuer
Chapter Objectives
1. Discuss why many scholars assert that most intelligence failures are
failures of analysis rather than collection.
2. Understand the knowledge, skills, and abilities that successful ana-
lysts possess.
3. Describe what a “structured analytical technique” is and why they
are used in the IC today.
4. Demonstrate familiarity with
a. Analysis of Competing Hypotheses
b. Scenarios
c. Key Assumptions Check
d. Contrarian Methods