Forensic Metrology

Forensic metrology is the application of scientific measurement to the investigation and prosecution of crime. It provides a framework for the performance and critical evaluation of all forensic measurements. It enables forensic scientists to better develop, perform and communicate forensic measurements; lawyers to better understand, present and cross-examine the results of forensic measurements; and judges to better subject testimony and evidence based on forensic measurements to the appropriate gatekeeping analysis. This book sets forth the metrological framework required to reach sound conclusions based on measured results and the inferences those results support.¿

Science, Metrology, and the Law. Introduction to Measurement: The Measurand. Weights and Measures. Validation and Good Measurement Practices. Result Interpretation-I: Metrological Prerequisites to Knowledge. Result Interpretation-II: Measurement Error. Result Interpretation-III: Measurement Uncertainty. Epistemological Structure of Metrology. Models and Uncertainty. Logic, Plausibility, and Probability. Bayes' Relation. Statistics and the Characterizing of Uncertainties. Hypothesis Testing, Evidence, Likelihood, Data. Confidence and Credible Intervals, Statistical Inference. Least Squares, Parameter Estimation, and Correlation. Measurements: Errors versus Uncertainty. Plausibility and the Law. Reading List. Example: Effect of a Calibration Constant. References. Appendix A: Symbols. Appendix B: Glossary. Appendix C: Metrology Organizations and Standards. Appendix D: Legal Authorities. Appendix E: Case Materials. Index.