“Having multiple sources on an issue is not a substitute for having good information that has been thoroughly examined.”US Government · A Tradecraft Primer: Structured Analytic Techniques for Improving Intelligence Analysis · 2009 · «A Tradecraft Primer: Structured Analytic Techniques for Improving Intelligence Analysis» (Guvernul SUA, martie 2009), secțiunea «Quality of Information Check», rubrica «When to Use», p. 10
Five echoes of the same source are not five confirmations but one.
The quality of information check assesses how complete and sound the source base behind a judgement is. The 2009 primer describes it as a continuous process, not a one-off step: otherwise important judgements stay anchored to weak information, and caveats once attached to them are forgotten. The steps: keep an inventory of sources by type and date, with their strengths and weaknesses; identify the most critical or compelling sources; check that critical reporting has sufficient and strong corroboration; re-examine previously dismissed information in the light of new facts; flag recalled reporting and review any analysis built on it. The result is an honest picture of what we know and what we do not, and it feeds straight into the confidence level. The method pays before any major assessment and whenever an analytic line has run for months. It is also where an adversary's deception strategies can be caught. The main trap is counting: five articles repeating the same source are not five confirmations but one, copied. In the finished product, ICD 203 requires the quality of sources to be described, and source summary statements are strongly encouraged.
Why it matters A year-old judgement can rest on a source recalled months ago, and nobody notices unless someone periodically looks underneath it.