Cox Committee Investigation
After reviewing the Cox Committee Investigation, what are the descriptive, explanatory, and predictive analytical methods used? What are the policy and operational decisions made as a result of this counterintelligence analysis of the PRC’s threat?
Sample Solution
The Cox Committee Investigation was a congressional inquiry into the security of US nuclear weapons systems and technology which resulted in a report detailing its findings. The analysis employed by the committee spanned across three main types of analytical methods, namely descriptive, explanatory and predictive analytics.
Descriptive analytics is used to summarize data and identify patterns or trends. It enables us to gain an overview of the situation at hand and assess current performance levels (Koh & Chiang 2020). For example, as part of their investigation, the committee collected documents from various sources such as government departments and industry reports in order to get an overview of US nuclear weapon programs (Cox et al., 1999). This data was then analyzed descriptively to draw conclusions about how these programs were being managed.
Explanatory analytics seeks to explain why certain phenomena have occurred by exploring relationships between different variables using statistical techniques (Koh & Chiang 2020). Within the context of this inquiry, this approach might involve examining any correlations between changes in policy or funding allocation with changes in personnel behavior or efficiency levels. By doing so it could help uncover insights that may be otherwise difficult to detect.
Finally predictive analytics identifies future outcomes based on historical data (Koh & Chiang 2020). This would have been useful for forecasting potential risks associated with new weapon systems before they enter service. The committee leveraged such techniques for modelling scenarios around hypothetical adversary capabilities so that preventive measures could be taken accordingly.
In summary then, when investigating national security issues like those faced by the Cox Committee Prediction models can prove very useful given their ability to provide real-time feedback on emerging threats while also helping shape preventative strategies going forward.
