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Statistics and the Law

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Submitted By kcalp
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S
A NOTE ON STATISTICS AND THE LAW

w
909E01

Ileana Funez wrote this note under the supervision of Professor Greg Zaric solely to provide material for class discussion. The authors do not intend to provide legal, tax, accounting or other professional advice. Such advice should be obtained from a qualified professional. Ivey Management Services prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission. Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Ivey Management Services, c/o Richard Ivey School of Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-mail cases@ivey.uwo.ca. Copyright © 2009, Ivey Management Services Version: 2009-01-29

INTRODUCTION

Along with advancements in science and technology, the practice of law has made advancements in the types of evidence considered to be relevant. Since the 1970s, statistical analysis has become an important part of courtroom discussions.1 Often, statistical evidence alone can provide sufficient grounds for the sentencing of a suspect. An understanding of statistical science is thus crucial for an analysis of many courtroom decisions. In this note, the use of data in court, data collection biases, requirements for evidence, and fallacious arguments will be discussed. There will also be a brief discussion of some past court cases in which statistics played an important role.

ANALYZING DATA

Statisticians may be called to analyze data in a number of ways and to present such findings in the courtroom. To begin data analysis, it is important to have an understanding of conditional probability and statistical independence. This allows for the use of Bayes’ Theorem

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