TimeSets: temporal sensemaking in intelligence analysis

TimeSets is a temporal data visualization technique designed to reveal insights into event sets, such as all the events linked to one person or organization. In this paper we describe two TimeSets-based visual analytics tools for intelligence analysis. In the first case, TimeSets is integrated with other visual analytics tools to support open-source intelligence analysis with Twitter data, particularly the challenge of finding the right questions to ask. The second case uses TimeSets in a participatory design process with analysts that aims to meet their requirements of uncertainty analysis involving fake news. Lessons learned are potentially beneficial to other application domains

Action Learning

{Excerpt} Conventional approaches to learning hinge on the presentationof knowledge and skills. Then again, knowledge is revealedthrough methods of questioning amid risk, confusion,and opportunity. Reginald Revans, the originator of actionlearning, recommended that one should keep away from experts with prefabricated answers. Rather, people shouldbecome aware of their lack of knowledge and be preparedto explore their ignorance with suitable questions and helpfrom others: finding the right questions rather than the right answers is important, and it is one’s perception of a problem, one’s evaluation of what is to be gained by solving it, and one’s estimation of the resourcesavailable to solve it that supply the springs of human action. Action learning is an educational process by which a person studies his or her own actions and experience to improveperformance. Put simply, it is about solving problems and getting things done. In action learning, a smallgroup of 5–8 persons (called action learning set) meets regularly for a day or half a day over at least 6 months and works collectively on a problem faced in ongoing practice. The action learning set helps a “presenter”work on a problem through supportive but challenging questioning. It encourages a deeper understanding of theissues involved, a reflective reassessment of the problem, and an exploration of ways forward. (Action learningrequires that actions be agreed at the end of each meeting.) By so doing, it provides a structured way of workingthat provide the discipline we often need to learn from what we do and improve practice as a result

Defining the Scope of Your Evaluation

One challenge of conducting evaluations is finding the right questions to guide the work. A clear purpose for a study gives the evaluator a good sense of what information can answer the questions, and helps frame the scope of the project as a whole. Knowing the scope of the evaluation project provides a sense of the resources needed. A common pitfall for those getting started with evaluation is trying to carry out a project before thinking about the overall purpose of the evaluation. This article provides a brief overview of defining clear and concise evaluation questions and thinking about the overall scope of an evaluation project. Examples include questions and strategies used in small, medium, and large-scale studies

Heidegger Uncovered.

This paper analyses Mark A. Wrathall’s interpretation of Heidegger’s idea of alêtheia (Unverborgenheit) and its relation to the opening up of the world, the disclosure of being, and the uncovering of entities. It also assesses whether Wrathall’s interpretation of Heidegger is able to do the work necessary to justify the former’s criticisms of contemporary conceptions of the nature of truth, language, and history