Cramming For Court: Teaching Statistics To Litigators


Book: 
Proceedings of the sixth international conference on teaching statistics, Developing a statistically literate society
Authors: 
Gray, M. W.
Editors: 
Phillips, B.
Category: 
Pages: 
Online
Year: 
2002
Publisher: 
International Statistical Institute
URL: 
http://www.stat.auckland.ac.nz/~iase/publications/1/4f2_gray.pdf
Abstract: 

Experienced litigators pride themselves on being able to do a quick study of any subject, no matter how esoteric. However, self-help frequently does not suffice when the subject is statistics. No matter how well-prepared the expert testimony on their side, the failure of many litigators to be able to understand the statistics of the opposition adequately to cross-examine effectively has doomed many cases. Several examples will be explored, together with guidelines for statisticians who must prep the math-phobic advocate.

The CAUSE Research Group is supported in part by a member initiative grant from the American Statistical Association’s Section on Statistics and Data Science Education

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