Babdah Directorate

Methodology & Standards

Good intelligence is not a collection of interesting facts.

It is a disciplined answer to a defined question.

From requirement to assessment

  1. Requirement
  2. Collection
  3. Evaluation
  4. Corroboration
  5. Analysis
  6. Assessment

  1. Defining the intelligence requirement

    Every engagement starts with the decision or uncertainty the client faces, stated as a question the assessment must answer. The requirement determines what is collected — not the reverse.

  2. Collection planning

    Sources and methods are selected to answer the requirement, within lawful limits and the agreed scope.

  3. Source evaluation

    Each source is weighed for reliability and access. Client-provided claims are treated as reporting until independently established.

  4. Corroboration

    Information is tested against other, independent sources before it is relied upon.

  5. Contradictory information

    Material contradictory information is not suppressed. It is reported and weighed.

  6. Alternative explanations

    Competing explanations are considered before a judgment is reached. Causation is not claimed merely because two events occur in sequence.

  7. Analytical confidence

    Judgments carry a stated level of confidence — high, moderate, or low — reflecting the quality and consistency of the evidence.

  8. Information gaps

    What could not be established is identified, so the client knows the limits of the assessment.

  9. Separation of fact, reporting, and judgment

    A Babdah product distinguishes established facts from reporting, indicators from conclusions, analytical judgments from evidence, and known information from unresolved gaps.

  10. Limitations and lawful collection

    Collection is conducted lawfully and within the agreed scope. Babdah will decline work that cannot be performed lawfully or responsibly.

  11. Client decision authority

    Babdah provides the assessment; the client makes the decision.

The language of an assessment

Babdah uses consistent terms so a reader can always tell what is established, what is claimed, and what is judgment.

KNOWN
Supported by sufficiently reliable evidence.
REPORTED
Claimed or provided by a source but not independently established.
ASSESSED
Babdah’s analytical judgment based on the available information.
UNKNOWN
Information that could not presently be established.

Confidence

  • High Confidence
  • Moderate Confidence
  • Low Confidence

Where certainty does not exist, Babdah does not manufacture it.

Standards

  1. Material contradictory information is not suppressed.
  2. Client-provided claims are treated as reporting until independently established.
  3. Analytical judgments are distinguished from established facts.
  4. Confidence is qualified where appropriate.
  5. Material information gaps are identified.
  6. Causation is not claimed merely because two events occur in sequence.
  7. Collection is conducted lawfully and within the agreed scope.
  8. Babdah will decline work that cannot be performed lawfully or responsibly.

Babdah does not exist to confirm a client’s suspicions. We exist to help clients see the situation more clearly.

We assess the evidence, not the preferred conclusion.

What do you need to understand?

You do not need to know what kind of intelligence you need. Tell Babdah the decision you are facing, the situation you need to understand, and what you already know. The first step is defining the requirement.

Submit an intelligence requirement