Structured Analytic Techniques

Catalog description

This course will provide students who are interested in studying the intelligence field and who already have an understanding of the fundamentals and competencies of intelligence analysts with the knowledge and skills to incorporate Structured Analytic Skills into their daily analysis to support their methodologies and assessments. This course will also describe the different types of flaws and biases in thinking, as well as the different types of problems, how to solve them, and the amount of facts or judgments that are required. This course ranges in complexity from orientation-type instruction on the ways that biases and fallacies can impact analysis to an understanding of the many different techniques that can be applied to problems that intelligence analysts must address in their work. Prerequisites for this course include both CJ-621 and CJ-622 to ensure that students clearly understand the need for intelligence, how to gathering and analyze intelligence, and that they are familiar with the methods by which intelligence information is disseminated via briefings and reports.