The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology

Author: Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier,Henry E. Brady,David Collier

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

ISBN: 9780199286546

Category: Political Science

Page: 880

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The Oxford Handbooks of Political Science are the essential guide to the state of political science today. With engaging contributions from major international scholars The Oxford Handbook of Political Methodology provides the key point of reference for anyone working throughout the discipline.

The Law as a Behavioral Instrument

Author: Gary B. Melton

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

ISBN: 9780803231009

Category: Psychology

Page: 291

View: 5535

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The effect of the law on human behavior is contemporary society?nothing less is the concern of this important book. It is curious that scholars in psychology and law have largely neglected this topic because studies of the effects of law on behavior may have much to teach about the role of social regulation in human motivation more generally. Similarly, such studies may offer jurisprudential scholars new ways of thinking about the role of law in human experience.øHere seven leading experts on law and the social sciences discuss the contributions their research c an make to the legal system. Concerned with the relationship between the law and both individual and group behavior, they examine the law as an instrument of social stasis and social change and as an element of personal motivation. The result is a major step toward the development of a psychology of jurisprudence. The scope of this book is in the best tradition of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation and a fitting celebration of the tenth anniversary of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln?s Law/Psychology Program, the first integrated graduate training program in psycho-legal studies. Drawing from law, anthropology, sociology, psychology, and philosophy, the contributors take a truly interdisciplinary approach to understanding the instrumentality of law.

Expert Witnesses

Criminologists in the Courtroom

Author: Patrick R. Anderson,L. Thomas Winfree Jr.

Publisher: SUNY Press

ISBN: 9780887064494

Category: Social Science

Page: 237

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For the first time a book documents the judicial system’s new dependence on social science testimony, especially that rendered by sociologists and criminologists. In Expert Witnesses contributors show that unlike traditional forensics testimony, the intrusion of social science data into judicial decision-making has relatively recent origins. It details the uses and abuses of social science experts, and the ethical and pragmatic concerns raised by their testimony. This timely collection will appeal to a diverse audience, including attorneys, judges, and students of judicial proceedings. Included in this volume are historical examinations of the expert witnessing phenomenon, the legal, social, and ethical debates regarding the appropriate role of such witnesses, and anecdotal descriptions by eminent social science experts. The authors address such pragmatic issues as an attorney’s perspective on finding the most appropriate expert or formulating the “best” questions to ask in court, and an expert’s perspective on getting aid or terminating a nonworking attorney-expert relationship.

The Psychology of evidence and trial procedure

Author: Saul M. Kassin,Lawrence S. Wrightsman

Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc

ISBN: N.A

Category: Law

Page: 384

View: 3398

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Kassin and Wrightsman's book concentrates on the single most important determinant of verdicts -- the evidence and court procedure. It is divided into four parts: (1) an overview and historical perspective; (2) seven substantive topics like eyewitness accounts, confessions, and character evidence; (3) an examination of the major stages of trial procedure; and (4) a provocative discussion of the role that psychology does, and should, play in the judicial process. Written in non-technical language, this book should have a broad appeal to students, researchers and litigants alike. `Chapters are extremely well written and documented. The work is highly recommended for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and legal professionals.' -- Choice, March 1986

An Introduction to Statistical Methods and Data Analysis

Author: R. Lyman Ott,Micheal T. Longnecker

Publisher: Cengage Learning

ISBN: 1305465520

Category: Mathematics

Page: 1296

View: 8813

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Ott and Longnecker's AN INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL METHODS AND DATA ANALYSIS, Seventh Edition, provides a broad overview of statistical methods for advanced undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines who have little or no prior course work in statistics. The authors teach students to solve problems encountered in research projects, to make decisions based on data in general settings both within and beyond the university setting, and to become critical readers of statistical analyses in research papers and news reports. The first eleven chapters present material typically covered in an introductory statistics course, as well as case studies and examples that are often encountered in undergraduate capstone courses. The remaining chapters cover regression modeling and design of experiments. Important Notice: Media content referenced within the product description or the product text may not be available in the ebook version.

The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence

Author: Committee on DNA Forensic Science: An Update,National Research Council,Division on Earth and Life Studies,Commission on Life Sciences

Publisher: National Academies Press

ISBN: 0309121949

Category: Science

Page: 272

View: 9287

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In 1992 the National Research Council issued DNA Technology in Forensic Science, a book that documented the state of the art in this emerging field. Recently, this volume was brought to worldwide attention in the murder trial of celebrity O. J. Simpson. The Evaluation of Forensic DNA Evidence reports on developments in population genetics and statistics since the original volume was published. The committee comments on statements in the original book that proved controversial or that have been misapplied in the courts. This volume offers recommendations for handling DNA samples, performing calculations, and other aspects of using DNA as a forensic tool--modifying some recommendations presented in the 1992 volume. The update addresses two major areas: Determination of DNA profiles. The committee considers how laboratory errors (particularly false matches) can arise, how errors might be reduced, and how to take into account the fact that the error rate can never be reduced to zero. Interpretation of a finding that the DNA profile of a suspect or victim matches the evidence DNA. The committee addresses controversies in population genetics, exploring the problems that arise from the mixture of groups and subgroups in the American population and how this substructure can be accounted for in calculating frequencies. This volume examines statistical issues in interpreting frequencies as probabilities, including adjustments when a suspect is found through a database search. The committee includes a detailed discussion of what its recommendations would mean in the courtroom, with numerous case citations. By resolving several remaining issues in the evaluation of this increasingly important area of forensic evidence, this technical update will be important to forensic scientists and population geneticists--and helpful to attorneys, judges, and others who need to understand DNA and the law. Anyone working in laboratories and in the courts or anyone studying this issue should own this book.

The Research Imagination

An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Author: Paul S. Gray,John B. Williamson,David A. Karp,John R. Dalphin

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

ISBN: 1139467026

Category: Social Science

Page: N.A

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The idea that science is a blueprint for research, and imagination gives research its life and purpose inspired this comprehensive explanation of research methodology. The authors' decades of experience have revealed that research is a craft requiring judgment and creativity, not simply memorization and application of the rules of science. Whether one is conducting an intimate one-on-one interview or a large-scale examination of an entire society, human imagination and scientific principles of inquiry go hand in hand. To that end, this book emphasizes scientific method, but also acknowledges its critics. It covers a wide variety of data-collection techniques, but presents them as reinforcing rather than competing with one another, thus striking a balance between qualitative and quantitative methods. It is designed for students and instructors who want a comprehensive treatment of a variety of research techniques with special emphasis on qualitative approaches.

Statistics in the Law

A Practitioner's Guide, Cases, and Materials

Author: Joseph B. Kadane

Publisher: Oxford University Press

ISBN: 0195309235

Category: Law

Page: 453

View: 1405

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The book will serve primarily as a user's manual or desk reference for the expert witness-lawyer team and secondarily as a textbook or supplemental textbook for upper level undergraduate statistics students. It starts with two articles by masters of the trade, Paul Meier and Franklin Fisher. It then explains the distinction between the Frye and Daughbert standards for expert testimony, and how these standards play out in court. The bulk of the book is concerned with individual cases ranging over a wide variety of topics, such as electronic draw poker (does it require skill to play), employment discrimination (how to tell whether an employer discriminated against older workers in deciding whom to fire), driving while black (did the New Jersey State Police disproportionately stop blacks), jury representativeness (is a jury a representative cross section of the community), juries hearing death penalty cases (are such juries biased toward a guilty verdict, and does the Supreme Court care), the civil incarceration of violent sexual offenders after having served their jail sentences (can future dangerousness be predicted), do data from multiple choice examinations support an allegation of copying, whether rental agents in an apartment complex steered African-American prospects to one part of the complex, how much tax is owed after an audit that used a random sample, whether an inventor falsified his notebook in an effort to fool the Patent Office, and whether ballots hadbeen tampered with in an election. The book concludes with two recent English cases, one in which a woman was accused of murdering her infant sons because both died of \cot death" or \sudden death syndrome," (she was convicted, but later exonerated), and how Bayesian analyses can (or more precisely), cannot be presented in UK courts. In each study, the statistical analysis is shaped to address the relevant legal questions, and draws on whatever methods in statistics might shed light on those questions.

Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States

A Path Forward

Author: National Research Council,Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences,Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics,Policy and Global Affairs,Committee on Science, Technology, and Law,Committee on Identifying the Needs of the Forensic Sciences Community

Publisher: National Academies Press

ISBN: 0309142393

Category: Law

Page: 348

View: 5809

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Scores of talented and dedicated people serve the forensic science community, performing vitally important work. However, they are often constrained by lack of adequate resources, sound policies, and national support. It is clear that change and advancements, both systematic and scientific, are needed in a number of forensic science disciplines to ensure the reliability of work, establish enforceable standards, and promote best practices with consistent application. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States: A Path Forward provides a detailed plan for addressing these needs and suggests the creation of a new government entity, the National Institute of Forensic Science, to establish and enforce standards within the forensic science community. The benefits of improving and regulating the forensic science disciplines are clear: assisting law enforcement officials, enhancing homeland security, and reducing the risk of wrongful conviction and exoneration. Strengthening Forensic Science in the United States gives a full account of what is needed to advance the forensic science disciplines, including upgrading of systems and organizational structures, better training, widespread adoption of uniform and enforceable best practices, and mandatory certification and accreditation programs. While this book provides an essential call-to-action for congress and policy makers, it also serves as a vital tool for law enforcement agencies, criminal prosecutors and attorneys, and forensic science educators.