EVALUATION PROBLEMS AS SEEN BY REPORTING OFFICERS: PRESENTATION BY MR. WALLACE DEUEL, DC/FI/RQM.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80B01083A000100070002-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 6, 2006
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 11, 1958
• Content Type: REQ

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ER 10-9720
Background Paper No. 2
11 December 1956
PLANNING GROUP FOR REPORTING AND COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS
Evaluation Problems as seen by Reporting Officers:
Presentation b
I. Definition.
A. "An evaluation is a critical estimate or appraisal by a using
department, agency or office of the Government, or by one of the
components of CIA, of an intelligence information report." (R 51-360)
B. It will be noted that this definition limits the applicability of
.the term "evaluation" to an appraisal or assessment by a using agency,
department or office, i.e., by a customer.
C. The term "evaluation" is used in the above sense in these remarks;
other forms of appraisal of information reports are treated only
tangentially.
II. Relevance of Evaluations to This Group's Concerns.
A. Evaluations are a form of guidance, and guidance does much to determine--
or at least can do much to determine:
1. The subjects on which the field reports,
2. The quality of the field reporting,
3. The volume of the reporting, and
4. The priorities and the speed with which information is collected
and incorporated in reports and the reports are transmitted to
Headquarters, processed and disseminated.
B. Requirements are the other principal form of guidance. For example:
1. RMDs,
2. IPC Target Lists,
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4. Specific or ad hoc "spot" requirements.
C. .. With. this Group's permission, requirements will be considered only in
.connection with evaluations, not as separate subject, for the
following principal reasons:
1. Much of what is-said about evaluations applies also to requirements,
and a discussion of requirements would necessarily repeat much of
what will be said about evaluations.
2. The subject of requirements is complex and esoteric, and would
require much of the Group's time without yielding adequate profit:.
Evaluations are more relevant to the Group's concerns than
requirements are.
D. There are two principal forms of evaluations:
1. Evaluations of single reports as disseminated and
2. Evaluations of groups of ten, twenty or more reports produced by a
single project and/or dealing with the same subject or subjects.
E. With the Group's permission, these remarks will be devoted primarily
to evaluations of single reports as disseminated, because these are
more relevant to the Group's concerns; this is because:
1. Evaluations of single reports as disseminated can provide the field
with guidance which is prompt, frequent and continuing, and
2. This kind of guidance facilitates:
a. Speed and flexibility of response of the collection effort to
the needs of the Community,
b. Speed and flexibility of adaptation of the collection effort
to the capabilities of the Agency and, perhaps most particularly,
c. Speed and flexibility of adaptation of reporting to the
capabilities of the transmission, distribution and dissemination
systems.
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OCI's Periodic Requirements Lists, and
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III. Obligations to Provide Evaluations.
A. The National Security Act.
"For the purpose of coordinating the intelligence activities of the
several Government departments and agencies in the interest of national
security it shall be the duty of the fCentral Intelligence? Agency,
under the direction of the National Security Council:
"(3) To correlate and evaluate intelligence relating to the national
security ...; Provided ...that the departments and other agencies
of the Government shall continue to collect, evaluate, correlate
and disseminate departmental intelligence."
B. NSCID No. 5.
"The departments and agencies concerned shall assist the Central
Intelligence Agency in its conduct of espionage by providing guidance
in the form of continuous, timely and specific collection requirements
and, as required, assessments of the information collected."
C. R 51-360.
"Any office which initiates a specific collection requirement is
responsible for evaluating the information collected and reported ...
in response to such requirement." "Each using office is responsible
for initiating evaluations of CIA reports pertinent to its field of
interest."
D. Spontaneous Evaluations.
1. The Clandestine Services received
evaluations during FY 1958;
Ispontaneous
2. All the other evaluations they received were obtained in response
to requests for them--and not all the requests elicited evaluations.
IV. Categories--and Numbers--of Reports on which Evaluations are Requested.
A. First Reports from a New Agent.
B. Reports from any Suspect'Source.
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C. Reports Responsive to Specific Requirements.
D. The Best Reports.
E. The Worst Reports_
F. An Adequate Sample of Reports:
"Reports selected for evaluation will include, not only the best and the
worst, but a sufficient number and variety (i) to provide sound bases
for assessment of the individual reports and of the projects which
produce them; and (2) to furnish plans and operations officers at all
echelons with guidance in managing and improving their projects."
(csI 51-5).
V. Customers From Whom Evaluations are Requested.
A. On Reports Responsive to Specific Requirements: From the customer
levying the requirement.
B. From the Best Qualified User.
VI. Data Requested in Evaluations.
A. The Check Lists.
1. Value of the report in terms of the extent to which the customer
was already aware of the information reported.
2. Value of the report in terms of its accuracy.
3. "Importance of receiving further reports on this specific subject."
B. Further--and Discursive--Comment Sought' (Space provided on form).
1. "Collector's questions to evaluator."
2. "Evaluator's comments."
3. "Evaluator's Follow-up questions and guidance to collector on subject
of this report."
VII. Evaluations Received FY 1958.
A. Total disseminations: 1+9,709
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1. Of which number based on cables
approximately
And number based on pouched
reports approximately
B. Evaluations Received:
2. Percentage of disseminations
evaluated
C. Evaluations Received from Each Customer.
Customer
State
ORR
Army
OSI
Navy
Air
Number of
Evaluations
Provided
3,120
19 598
727
516
341
340
138
Percentage of
Total Evaluations
Received
45.0
23.0
10.5
7.4
4.9
4.9
1.9
VIII. Procedure
A. Disseminating Division.
1. Requests evaluation, indicating the request on the outgoing report.
2. Sends the report to Reproduction.
B. Reproduction.
1. Makes the total number of copies of the report needed.
2. Attaches Evaluation Forms (mats) to the copies to be delivered to
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customers whose evaluations are requested.
3. Sends the reports on their way to customers.
4. At the same time, sends copies toI
2. Sends it to
Logs in the copies of'the reports which it receives, recording:
1. "Project Name,"
2. "Evaluation Requested from,"
3. "Subject Country," and
4. "Field Number."
D. Customer.
1. Fills out Evaluation Form and
1. Notes, in its log, the date the evaluation is received.
2. Records on the evaluation form:
a. Date it is received,
b. Project name,
c. Subject country, and
d. Field number.
3. Determines the number of copies of the evaluation which will be
needed.
Ii. Sends the forms to Rep.~'duction with instructions as to the number
of copies to be made.
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F. Reproduction.
1. Makes the necessary number of copies of the evaluation.
2. Sends the copies to
1. Files copies for project review and other purposes.
2. Sends the other copies to divisions, as appropriate.
H. Divisions.
Sends copies to the field as appropriate in the divisions' judgment.
IX. Delays
A. "Crash Evaluations".
It is usually possible to obtain a small number of "crash" evaluations
from customers very quickly--often within a single working day.
B. Other Evaluations.
1. Long delays commonly occur in the obtaining of other evaluations,
by means of the existing system.
2. Time studies now being made will provide data on these delays.
3. Meanwhile, it may be noted that Navy returned last month an
evaluation which had been requested in April 1957 and that, while
this is exceptional, it is by no means unique.
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