28 data. A footnote may contain a book, report, or other primary source publications, which can led to other relevant studies.
Other Relevant Information Collection In addition to collecting information on intelligence spending and personnel, the researcher also identified the corresponding year of the published data, and GDPs of the individual countries. The purpose of citing the year of publication and the GDPs of individual countries is to assist in comparing and estimating unknown datasets. The GDP figures come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was chosen for its consistent reporting periods. Also included are the names of the national intelligence agencies, indicated intelligence community, or intelligence spending program.
The
names of the intelligence agencies are not necessarily relevant to this study, but they are available for reference purposes only. The researcher used Microsoft Excel to collate this information in one single spreadsheet. Under each country listing is the name of an intelligence agency and its corresponding budgetary and personnel data. However, if the only information found represented the national intelligence community or spending program, then it is indicated, and not necessarily each agency.
Establishing Webpage Credibility This thesis uses Dax Norman’s Trust Evaluation Worksheet to estimate the credibility of online sources. This Worksheet comes from Norman’s study, How to Identify Credible Sources on the Web, in which he seeks to determine a “valid criteria for