An analyst must understand how to gather data that can tell where and when an event like a forest fire takes place. They’ll need to understand how to use software to gather the data. But synthesizing the data with other geographical concepts gets them closer to understanding why something happened. The synthesizing process demonstrates a higher level of thinking and understanding about the topic at hand and can contribute to a larger dialogue about addressing future forest fires.
So when someone can combine some background in climatology, along with patterns of data, and maybe some practical knowledge about how governmental mechanisms function in the field- then we are getting closer to answering why something like a forest fire happens and how to adapt our behavior or response accordingly.
Now that we’re moving on to the higher order thinking skills, I am going to use the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis as an example of how these skills were used in a real life situation. I am pulling much of the information about this from the fascinating book by J.A. Nathan, Anatomy of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Consider the photo above, in which a person is observing several aerial photos. To the untrained eye these may be just pretty pictures. The question is, do they have the training to actually “analyze” the imagery to determine: what they see, where it is, when it is, and perhaps how it got there?
Analysis is, simply stated, taking things apart or deconstructing them.
Let us go back to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1961. US photo reconnaissance aircraft took photos (see above) of odd installations in Cuba that were newly installed. Image interpreters used their knowledge and comprehension of image interpretation keys including: density, concentration, pattern, spatial association, and Soviet aircraft, missile, and vehicle identification guides to analyze the images. They used change detection to determine that what they were seeing was new as it was not on previous images. The fact that the density, concentration, and pattern of objects were regular and symmetrical indicated they were most likely human engineered. The shapes of objects on the ground matched those of Soviet missile systems and support equipment.
A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:
Verbs that demonstrate analysis:
analyze, separate, order, explain, connect, classify, arrange, divide, compare, select, explain, infer
Nathan, J.A. (2000). Anatomy of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
For our Cold War image analysts looking at Cuba they clearly have something that appears to be newly installed and human engineered. As they look at the location and time of these new installations, it is clear they are in relatively remote and easily securable areas. They see a specific pattern or layout. Given knowledge of the US-Soviet-Cuban relations at the time, the analysts know that the USSR is hostile to the US, and that the USSR and Cuba are allies. This leads to a hypothesis that these new installations may be Soviet installations. Comparing imagery of various Soviet military sites leads to the conclusion that these sites may house Soviet offensive surface-to-surface missiles.
A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:
Verbs that demonstrate synthesis:
combine, integrate, modify, rearrange, substitute, plan, create, design, invent, compose, formulate, prepare, generalize, rewrite
Nathan, J.A. (2000). Anatomy of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
As our analysts evaluate the data available, they conclude these types of offensive missiles typically carry nuclear weapons. This means the Soviets have likely installed offensive nuclear weapons only 90 miles off the coast of the US capable of hitting Washington, D.C., and other targets on the Eastern Seaboard with less than ten minutes warning.
This information was critical to US President John F. Kennedy’s decision to blockade Cuba, and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
It was aerial imagery and interpretation that later assured President Kennedy that the Soviets had kept their word and removed the weapons from Cuba, thus averting a catastrophic war.
Note the air photos by themselves were just pictures. It took trained air photo interpreters using their foundational and higher order thinking skills and critical thinking to make the photos understandable and useful to policy makers and the public. The photos with associated interpretation were key evidence to make President Kennedy’s claims and actions credible.
A learner at this stage in their development can be observed demonstrating their ability to:
Verbs that demonstrate evaluation:
assess, decide, rank, grade, test, measure, recommend, convince, select, judge, explain, discriminate, support, conclude, compare, summarize
Nathan, J.A. (2000). Anatomy of the Cuban Missile Crisis. New York: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC.
Links
[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BloomsTaxonomy.png
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Creative_Commons
[3] https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en
[4] https://unsplash.com/photos/EL4CGRnwwNc
[5] https://unsplash.com/@antenna
[6] https://unsplash.com/
[7] https://catalog.archives.gov/
[8] https://www.dia.mil/