The role of narrative in collaborative reasoning and intelligence analysis: A case study

Abstract

This paper explores the significance of narrative in collaborative reasoning using a qualitative case study of two teams of intelligence analysts who took part in an exercise using an online collaborative platform. Digital ethnographic methods were used to analyze the chat transcripts of analysts as they reasoned with evidence provided in a difficult, fictional intelligence-type problem and produced a final intelligence report. These chat transcripts provided a powerful “microscope” into the reasoning processes and interactions involved in complex, collaborative reasoning. We found that Individuals and teams used narrative to solve the kinds of complex problems organizations and intelligence..