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STRATFOR E-Mail #18: Re: [alpha] sourcing insight

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  1. Re: [alpha] sourcing insight
  2. Email-ID        2606228
  3. Date    2011-07-29 22:08:01
  4. List-Name       [email protected]
  5. I think you should make responsiveness a separate category. Like we do
  6. with our red, orange, yellow classifications during source list reviews.
  7. That is responsiveness/accessibility, and it is distinct from
  8. reliability.
  9. From: Jennifer Richmond
  10. Reply-To: Alpha List
  11. Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 15:05:28 -0500
  12. To:
  13. Subject: Re: [alpha] sourcing insight
  14. As Stick said earlier, you can have a reliable source that is highly
  15. responsive that sometimes sends crap. Item credibility is the place where
  16. you assess the information, and this changes from insight to insight.
  17. Reliability is more about source responsiveness. That said, and as Stick
  18. notes, reliability also speaks to the overall source's access to
  19. information as well as dependability. In part some of this should also be
  20. addressed in the source description.
  21.  
  22. We'll be fleshing these out a bit more in the next few weeks, and all
  23. suggestions are welcomed.
  24.  
  25. On 7/29/11 2:51 PM, Kamran Bokhari wrote:
  26.  
  27. My understanding of source reliability has always been the contact's
  28. personal reliability as a person who can provide accurate information.
  29. On 7/29/11 2:54 PM, Jennifer Richmond wrote:
  30.  
  31. Sending to the list since these are good questions. My responses in
  32. red.
  33.  
  34. On 7/29/11 1:48 PM, Allison Fedirka wrote:
  35.  
  36. I have 2 questions on this item.
  37. SOURCE RELIABILITY: A-F, A being the best and F being the worst.
  38. this
  39. grades the turnaround time of this source in responding to requests
  40.  
  41. 1) If this is based solely on turn around time, do we have company
  42. standards for the letters. Like A = a couple of hours, D = a couple
  43. of weeks, etc? We do need to better identify what each letter
  44. means. In the meantime, in my book A=within 24 hours, B=48 hours,
  45. C=a couple of days, D=over a week, F=lucky if we get a response
  46. 2) Also I previously thought this item reflected both reliability in
  47. turn around time and also reliability to give good information. So
  48. like if someone was obviously anti-chavez or exaggerates a lot, I
  49. would bump them down a bit since the insight should be taken with a
  50. grain of salt. How do you want us to inform others of potential
  51. bias or questionable material? In the description section? It is
  52. mainly addresses their reliability to respond. ITEM CREDIBILITY is
  53. the place where we code the information. In most cases this changes
  54. from insight to insight whereas SOURCE RELIABILITY is a little more
  55. static. Some sources know nothing about politics but give excellent
  56. info on econ. So, credibilty changes frequently even with the same
  57. source and one of the reasons why we need to keep up with the entire
  58. ID tags when sending in insight. As to the last question, I usually
  59. make a note of their bias for a particular insight in the
  60. credibility section. In the description section you can write out
  61. their personal biases - e.g. the dude only hangs with the wealthy so
  62. this insight is likely to be skewed towards elite perceptions, or
  63. something like that.
  64.  
  65. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
  66.  
  67. From: "Jennifer Richmond"
  68. To: "Alpha List"
  69. Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 1:41:39 PM
  70. Subject: [alpha] sourcing insight
  71.  
  72. We've gotten lazy on insight source IDs again. Not only do you need
  73. to
  74. put the source code in the subject line, but all of these categories
  75. need to be filled out for every single insight sent to the list.
  76.  
  77. SOURCE: code
  78. ATTRIBUTION: this is what we should say if we use this info in a
  79. publication, e.g. STRATFOR source/source in the medical
  80. industry/source
  81. on the ground, etc
  82. SOURCE DESCRIPTION: this is where we put the more concrete details
  83. of
  84. the source for our internal consumption so we can better understand
  85. the
  86. source's background and ability to make the assessments in the
  87. insight
  88. PUBLICATION: Yes or no. If you put yes it doesn't mean that we will
  89. publish it, but only that we can publish it.
  90. SOURCE RELIABILITY: A-F, A being the best and F being the worst.
  91. this
  92. grades the turnaround time of this source in responding to requests
  93. ITEM CREDIBILITY: 1-10, 1 being the best and 10 being the worst (we
  94. may
  95. change the range here in the future). this changes a lot based on
  96. the
  97. info provided. 1 is "you can take this to the bank" and 10 would be
  98. an
  99. example of maybe - "this is a totally ridiculous rumor but something
  100. that is spreading on the ground"
  101. SPECIAL HANDLING: often this is "none" but it may be something like,
  102. "if
  103. you use this we need to be sure not to mention the part about XXX in
  104. the
  105. publication" or any other special notes
  106. SOURCE HANDLER: the person who can take follow-up questions and
  107. communicate with the source
  108.  
  109. If you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, let me know.
  110. I'll
  111. be back in the office next Tues so if you want to discuss this
  112. process
  113. in person we can do so soon. In the meantime, remember that every
  114. piece
  115. of insight needs this ENTIRE ID unless it is just something that you
  116. picked up off the ground from a source that you will likely not hear
  117. from again. Even then, you should fill out the entire ID and in the
  118. SOURCE field simply say - n/a with a description on why we are not
  119. coding them.
  120.  
  121. Jen
  122. PS: Also remember that is something is highly sensitive to send
  123. directly
  124. - not thru a WO - to the "secure" list. Secure list insights still
  125. need
  126. the above ID tags.
  127.  
  128. --
  129. Jennifer Richmond
  130. STRATFOR
  131. China Director
  132. Director of International Projects
  133. (512) 422-9335
  134. www.stratfor.com
  135.  
  136. --
  137. Jennifer Richmond
  138. STRATFOR
  139. China Director
  140. Director of International Projects
  141. (512) 422-9335
  142.  
  143. --
  144. Jennifer Richmond
  145. STRATFOR
  146. China Director
  147. Director of International Projects
  148. (512) 422-9335