The Analytic Onion: Examining Training Issues from Different Levels of Analysis

Abstract : The layers found in average grocery store onion, perhaps of the sweet Vidalia variety, are used as an analog for levels of conceptual analysis. This paper focuses on applying the 'Analytic Onion' to training issues. The core of the analytic onion is the biological level, surrounded by the individual, the group, the organizational, community, societal, world system, and space system levels of analysis. Each level of analysis is discussed in the paper as well as the interactions between the levels. Disciplinary perspectives from biology, psychology, social psychology, political science, and sociology are presented. All of these disciplines are viewed as having contributions to make the examination of training issues when the focus is on the appropriate level of analysis. This paper presents these varied perspectives in unitary fashion and argues that using a single disciplinary perspective may result in missing many alternative training solutions to operational problems or solutions to training and operational problems which do not appear at first glance to be related to training or operations.