Measuring Political, Social, & Economic Change
EBR has developed a variety of methods for dealing with large amounts of unstructured data so analysts can piece together what may appear to be largely disparate uncoordinated activities and uncover hard to discover relationships. The ability for analysts to come up to speed quickly on a particular subject can be facilitated by leveraging tools and techniques to discover relationships, detect anomalies, discern trends and “connect the dots.”
Development of an Events Database
After pulling the open source information of interest from the internet, it becomes essential to begin to categorize that information. EBR has developed a method for extracting relevant events. These events include specific actions that are associated with individual actors, prominent people, places and keywords. The most fundamental aspect of coding an event is to be able to examine its underlying qualities. This helps the analyst to track whether a statement has been followed through to its end; whether there has been retaliation by the opposition or if an actor is consistently saying one thing but acting in another; thereby creating an open source events database.
Reporting Techniques
After populating the database with the information analysts need, reporting can begin. EBR has developed a variety of reporting formats.
Chronology report/ Graphic displays-2D
The events database format allows analysts to see events based on indicators, people, places or keywords. This gives the analysts the ability to track a specific issue across time and place and quickly get up to speed on a particular issue. Analysts can view issues quickly across time using a written chronology report. Chronology reports can shorten the time needed to get up to speed on an issue by reviewing years of information in just 15-20 pages.
Another reporting method allows analysts to see trends across time. 2D graphical displays follow the statements or actions of a particular actor. This provides the analyst the ability to develop their own trends and baselines when analyzing an event based on a particular point of view.
Graphic displays- 3D
A third method of reporting allows analysts the ability to graphically display information in a multi dimensional format. This technique provides a quick visual to discern the course of events over time. This method is most commonly used when displaying market data. It allows for numerous reports to be incorporated and shown graphically for easy viewing.
Link Analysis
Once the database has been populated by people, places, keywords, and events, it is then possible to perform a link analysis to detect what may appear to be disparate activities and uncoordinated events. This method can show hidden linkages among people and places and provide a backdrop for the how and why events happen.