The Raw is Cooked

Data in Intelligence Practice

Bibliographic Data

ID5337725
AuthorsMinna Räsänen (0000-0002-0913-3964, Södertörn University, corresponding author), James M Nyce (0000-0002-8798-1467, Ball State University)
Year2013
Volume38
Issue5
Pages655-677
Publication date2013-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience Technology & Human Values (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0162-2439 • E-ISSN: 1552-8251
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0162243913480049
OpenAlexW2109708829
LanguageEN
Citations received31
References cited29

This article looks at some common assumptions and associated work practices within a military intelligence community. There intelligence practitioners use the term "raw data" as a common sense category, as a word that describes information they want or have gained access to. The practical and organizational processes that inform the construction of the term raw data are unpacked here. Examples presented are based on interviews, field observations, and document reviews. Theoretical descriptions and models of work, for example, the intelligence cycle, construction, and the use of computer databases, assume that work in this community starts with raw data. However, this data has already been (prior) processed by the work practices, political, practical, and other decisions even before data collection occurs. The technology and attendant categories and practices instrumentalize a certain world view. The model used frames not just the collection and organization of the institution's knowledge but those categories that inform how this institution organizes, legitimizes, and enacts its work, data, and knowledge. Given the kinds of opponents nations have to face today, intelligence practitioners and those who study their work have to understand practice, action, and contexts often quite different from ones own

Data collection · Data science · Institution · Knowledge management · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Raw data · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture · Computer Science · Engineering · Intelligence, Security, War Strategy · Law · Military Strategy and Technology

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