Business Research Denial of Security Clearance: An Examination and Application of Real World Business Statistics

The purpose of this research is to identify the factors most relevant to decisions involving access to classified information and the denial of such security clearance. From an analysis of the commonly cited reasons for such denials, which range in official reports from sexual misconduct to the equally ambiguous and somehow more intriguing issue of "financial considerations," to acquiring specific information regarding the circumstances and considerations involved in particular incidents of either clearance approval or denial, this research would aim to develop an understanding of who might be granted clearance and who would be denied such clearance and access (Dice 2011). A broad and accurate understanding of current security clearance procedures and rationales would hopefully be developed as the ultimate objective and conclusion of the data analysis conducted in this research.

This research problem is highly important for several reasons, not the least of which is greater transparency in how the government keeps secrets. Several high profile incidents involving the unauthorized release of classified information have occurred in the past several years, and there is an...

This research could potentially identify areas in which extra exposure to unauthorized use or distribution of classified information could occur, with implications on national security.
Research Hypothesis

Substantial amounts of data regarding the official reasons for the denial of security clearance at various levels of classification already exists, demonstrating potential trends simply from a cursory examination of the raw data (Dice 2011). Financial considerations are cited in more than half of all denials of security clearance, with personal conduct a distant though still proportionately quite large second place (Dice 2011). This does not necessarily imply as conservative and careful a policy as might be hoped for or at first glance be observed, but rather demonstrates the potential possibility that decisions of security clearance or denial are made for factors other than those that actually account for, address, and mitigate the risks to classified information and its misuse or unauthorized distribution. It is the hypothesis of this author that the research will reveal that in granting or denying security…