What data do Hare et al use? They used a “reference database” of 3D bullet scans to train a statistical model. In what ways do the methods used by Hare et al differ from the “traditional” methods of bullet matching? The “traditional” methods involve using a comparison microscope...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Kahlil Sample
What data do Hare et al use? The data used were 3D topographical images of each bullet, an array of surface measurements (x3p format) and “x3pr” and “bulletr” R packages In what ways do the methods used by Hare et al differ from the “traditional” methods...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Sam Rew
What data do Hare et al use? Hare et al use 3-D topographical images of their sample bullets from the Hamby study. Each bullet is scanned six times, once per land, in order to gather the data. Hare et al use bulletr and x3pr packages in R to...
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Matching Bullet Lands: Hare, Hofmann, and Carriquiry
Amanda Rae
Background: Watch the entire CSAFE webinar (including questions at the end) posted here. (The actual presentation starts about 7 minutes in.) While you are watching, keep in mind the following questions to respond to when you’re finished: 1. What data do Hare et al. use? Hare discusses...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Madelaine Quistgaard
1. What data do Hare et al use? The data that they use is the 3D topographical images of the bullets, along with the x3p format which is the array of surface measurements at the micrometer level. They used x3pr and bulletr for processing the data in R. They...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Macy Neblett
The data used was 3D topographical images of each bullet. Each image is in x3p format, which is an array of surface measurements at the micrometer level. R was used to streamline formatting. The traditional method of examining bullet striations involves placing the bullets under a...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Firstname Lastname
Background: Watch the entire CSAFE webinar (including questions at the end) posted here. (The actual presentation starts about 7 minutes in.) While you are watching, keep in mind the following questions to respond to when you’re finished: What data do Hare et al use? In what ways...
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Week 7b: Final H.W.
James Kruse
1) What data do Hare et al use? For this study, Hare et al used the random forest package, the x3p file, and bullet r package. In regards to their reference data base, they used the Hamby study as a starting point and analyzed the data from there. 2) In...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Andrew Kimble, III
What data do Hare et al use? The data format that Hare et al used was 3D topographical images, they also used 3 R packages which were randomForest, x3pr, and bulletr. In what ways do the methods used by Hare et al differ from the “traditional” methods...
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Statistical Approaches to Matching Bullets
Marion Gray-Lion
What data do Hare et al use? The data used was: the Hamby Study of known impressions as a reference database, the random forest model software, and two other R packages – x3pr and bulletr, developed by Hoffman and Hare. Data was collected using 3D topographical images of...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Kahlil Sample
Chapter 13 The reasoning for saying “provided strong evidence that using the busy road was quickest” as opposed to “proved that using the busy road was quickest” is because the outcome of the experiment cannot be “proved” without measureable data. A very small p-value was...
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p-values
Amanda Rae
Background: Read Chapters 13-15 of the book What is a p-value anyway? by Andrew Vickers. (Sam and Joe will have handed copies out already.) Respond to the circled discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Remember, length of response is not as important as how well and how...
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Untitled
Anna Steffensmeier
Chapter 13: 1) To say you have proved something suggests that it is a fact. He did not prove that the busy road was ALWAYS the fastest, but the evidence suggested that in most cases the busy road was quicker than the back roads. 2) A p-value isn’t a numbers...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Francesca Spencer
Chapter 13 The narrator stated they “provided strong evidence” rather than “proved” that using the busy road was quickest because it takes more to prove that something is the way it is. The narrator stated that from the statistical analysis that they conducted by timing the rides home...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Firstname Lastname
Chapter 13 There is a difference between proof and evidence. Evidence suggests that there is a strong correlation between two things, but there is still room for doubt. Proof is considered to be undeniable and final. Proof is based on a massive set of evidence in order...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Maddie Quistgaard
Chapter 13 The reason why the writer says “provided strong evidence that using the busy road was quickest,” instead of saying “I proved it” is because one cannot prove something that is constantly changing. Also one can’t prove without data plus the outcome cannot be applied broadly....
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What is a p-value anyway?
Macy Neblett
Chapter 13 The reason the author could not say that he proved that the busy road was the quickest is because statistics is about managing risk and more data would be needed in order to “prove” it. The small p-value (despite the trivial difference between...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Firstname Lastname
Background: Read Chapters 13-15 of the book What is a p-value anyway? by Andrew Vickers. (Sam and Joe will have handed copies out already.) Respond to the circled discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Remember, length of response is not as important as how well and how...
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Assignment 7a
James Kruse
Chapter 13: 1) When one says that they have “proved” something, they are calling it a fact. When conducting a study, no matter what the subject or field is, you need to have sufficient backing before you call something a fact. Much of the time, this means that experiments have...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Andrew Kimble, III
Chapter 13 There was no need fore me to prove it because even though you provided strong evidence you still have to weigh all considerations in order to pick the road that will be very beneficial to you. The difference between the two p-value groups are trivial because...
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What is a p-value anyway?
Marion Gray-Lion
Chapter 13 The author could not say that he proved that the busy road was the quickest since there are different variables that can affect the potential outcomes. For example when calculating the means and standard deviations on given day, some influences could impede the traffic flow such...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Anna Steffensmeier
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction Firearm and toolmark identification analysis has been heavily criticised in recent years; the major concern within this field of study is that there is no known error rate with these analyses. To supply an accurate error rate is problematic because of the...
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Summary and Analysis of an...Interesting Paper
Francesca Spencer
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction In the introduction of this paper, the author(s) discuss the background of firearm and toolmark identification and provides criticisms surrounding the motion towards statistical methods for firearm and toolmark identification. From what I understood, the speaker was essentially saying that identifying toolmarks...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Kahlil Sample
There have been much criticism of how accurately evidence can be presented in the field of fire arms and tool mark evidences. One of the main concerns within this field is that the community has not yet succeeded in supplying the “known or potential error rate. From a statistical point...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Sam Rew
click for paper. Summary of Murdock et. al ###Introduction With the work some researchers are doing in the forensic field there is bound to be criticism as to the methods currently used. Criticism is usually helpful and wanted, but “just as substandard work deserves derision, so does substandard...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Amanda Rae
Summary of Murdock et al. Introduction There are two communities, statistics and law enforcement, which have varying opinions of the evaluation of firearm toolmarks. Statisticians are concerned with the absence of probability models that include type one and two error. Through the research that has been done the...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Maddie Quistgaard
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction At the beginning of the paper, the writers criticized about how accurately evidence can be presented in the field of fire arms and tool mark evidences. Critics argue that this field does not have a strong statistical basis of tool mark identification....
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Macy Neblett
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction The nature of firearm and toolmark marks makes it difficult to create a statistical model that can accurately and reliably (from a statistical standpoint) predict the chances of a randomly aquired characteristic of being actually random. The models that have been suggested...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Firstname Lastname
Background: Carefully read the paper, “The Development and Application of Random Match Probabilities to Firearm and Toolmark Identification” by Murdock et al. It is provided in the repo here. Your assignment has two parts: Your first assignment is to summarize this paper. There are four sections: the...
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Assignment: Week 6
James Kruse
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction Due to the nature of the criminal justice system, or any system that pins individual’s against one another, there will always be questions raised in regards to the evidence. Critics of firearm and toolmark evidence examination say that there is little to...
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Andrew Kimble, III
Summary of Murdock et. al Introduction There have been much criticism of how accurately evidence can be presented in the field of firearms and toolmark evidences. One main concern within this field is that the community has not yet succeeded in supplying the “known or potential error rate....
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Discussion of Firearms & Toolmarks Analysis
Marion Gray-Lion
Summary of Murdock et. Al Introduction The writers keep reiterating in the introduction that the explanations to date in reference to a statistical model (being established) dealing with firearm and toolmark analysis are fallacies and lack scientific methodology / basis. However, it is stated in the reading that firearm and...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Anna Steffensmeier
Bitemark Analysis What kind of factors would you need to control for, and how would you accomplish that? The factors you could control are: how much time is in between the analysis of the bitemark and the initial bite, material bitten into, and how the bitemark is analyzed....
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Kahlil Sample
I would collect a designated amount of hair samples from subjects who wish to particpate in my hypothetical experiment. A total of 1000 hair samples would be compiled, 10 hair samples from 100 randomly selected subjects in the state of Georgia. A fixed number of examiners will be chosen to...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Sam Rew
Section 5.7: Hair Analysis First off, any experiment done with hair analysis would need a very large sample size. I would gather 10 hair samples from 150 random people across the country, for a total of 1500 hair samples. These samples would be put into a database for 5...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods, Bitemarks
Amanda Rae
Experimental Design with Respect to PCAST Report Subsection on Bite Marks After reading the PCAST report section on Bite Mark Analysis I understood that there were many issues with the implementation of examination. It appears that the examiners do not follow a set protocol to identify markings. Each examiner...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Maddie Quistgaard
Bitemarks: 5.3 What kind of factors would you need to control for, and how would you accomplish that? The factors that would be controlled are the length of time between when the bite was taken and when it was examined. Another control would be the surfaces that...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Macy Neblett
Latent Print Proficiency Testing One of the issues raised with latent print examination was the need for proficiency testing. I would want to test does an examiners’ work quality differ depending on the context of the examination. This would require testing examiners with them knowing they were being “tested”...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Firstname Lastname
Background: Select one of the forensics methods discussed in Sections 5.3-5.7 of the report “Forensic Science in Criminal Courts: Ensuring Scientific Validity of Feature-Comparison Methods”, which was issued by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology in 2016. Read that subsection thoroughly, taking note of issues...
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Week 5a Assignment
James Kruse
Experimental Design: Bite Marks - When approaching a study on bite marks and how they can be used in forensic science, it is vital that one takes into mind that there have been few studies done on the subject to date. In addition, those that have been done have...
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Week 5a Blog Post
Andrew Kimble, III
My experiment for handling with firearms is I would gather 1000 bullets and have 5 sample guns. I would try to eliminate which bullet belonged to each gun by there ejectory marks but also we have to consider with the striation marks that also bullets carry manufacture faults which can...
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Experimental Design for Forensic Methods
Marion Gray-Lion
Assignment 5a: Designing an experiment – Footwear Analysis: Identifying the Characteristics • What kind of factors would you need to control for, and how would you accomplish that? The factors to be controlled would need to be for the general characteristics by having the same make, size and model worn...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Anna Steffensmeier
What data management issues does this case raise? (Maddie Quistgaard) GitHub could help address these issues with its collaborative interface. If one person does all the research and imports the data, the master of the branch would have to approve the pull request and would look at the data...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Kahlil Sample
For your two questions, plus one question from each of the two peers you selected, (for a total of 4 questions), discuss the following: In what ways can GitHub (or comprable cloud-based, version controlled, collaborative environments) help address the issues which the questions raise? Question 4. What data...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Sam Rew
In what ways can GitHub (or comprable cloud-based, version controlled, collaborative environments) help address the issues which the questions raise? Question 1: How do you think LaCour was able to publish falsified data in such a prestigious journal as Science? Two large issues with LaCour’s falsified data...
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Examination of LaCour's Failings Re-examined
Amanda Rae
Background: Revisit the case study on “When contact changes minds” and the problems surrounding it. Review the answers to the questions you chose. Additionally, review the responses of two of your peers, which you read over during Thursday’s discussion. Be sure at least one of the questions each...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Maddie Quistgaard
In what ways can GitHub (or comprable cloud-based, version controlled, collaborative environments) help address the issues which the questions raise? • What data management issues does this case raise? - For this question GitHub could’ve helped keep track of the data and what was done to the data each...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Macy Neblett
How do you think LaCour was able to publish falsified data in such a prestigious journal as Science? Why didn’t the peer review system identify the problems? This case features a long-distance collaboration between a faculty member and a graduate student. What issues does the case raise about collaborating...
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Reproducible Research and GitHub
Firstname Lastname
Background: Revisit the case study on “When contact changes minds” and the problems surrounding it. Review the answers to the questions you chose. Additionally, review the responses of two of your peers, which you read over during Thursday’s discussion. Be sure at least one of the questions each...
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Assignment 4B: Git Hub
James Kruse
James E. Kruse Writing assignment 4B 6/26/17 CSAFE REU Responsible Conduct: Git Hub Overarching question to be addressed in the following prompts: In what ways can GitHub (or comparable cloud-based, version controlled, collaborative environments) help address the issues which the questions raise? Prompt: What are some of the mentoring...
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Week 4b Blog Assignment
Andrew Kimble, III
What are some of the mentoring issues raised by this case? If they had used GitHub, Dr. Green could have been there to see how Michael was doing with the research and he could have made sure that the results haven’t been tampered with. It can really be...
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Response into Applying GitHub to the Problem
Marion Gray-Lion
What are the authorship issues in this case? Dr. Green and Michael LaCour were both remiss in assuring that their article contained their own work (original authorship), the data was correct, and proper protocol / ethics had been adhered to for scientific author publications. If there had been...
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Ethics of Reproducible Research
Anna Steffensmeier
How do you think LaCour was able to publish falsified data in such a prestigious journal as Science? LaCour’s timing with his “findings” could not have been more perfect. I think that his false claims brought hopes back into people’s hearts and minds that everyone isn’t always “stuck in...
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Issues that Arise from Falsified Studies
Francesca Spencer
2. If you were in Broockman’s and Kalla’s shoes, would you have handled the situation differently and if so, how and why? What issues does this case raise for people who report misconduct (whistleblowers)? Looking at the case study of how Brookman and Kalla handled the situation, I think...
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Ethics of Reproducible Research
Kahlil Sample
Question 9. This case raises issues about collaborating with others in a sense that a mentor is at a disadvantage to a mentee if the relationship is long distance. Although this case was mainly the fault of Michael LaCour, blame is to be placed on the mentor as well due...
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Week 3 Blog Post
Sam Rew
What are some of the consequences of LaCour’s behavior? For Broockman and Kalla? For Green? For other researchers in this field? For UCLA? For activists? LaCour’s behavior affected people all around the nation including himself. First off, he lost his credibility as a scientist as well as a...
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Erroneous Statistical Reporting
Amanda Rae
3. What are the human subjects issues raised by this case? Were human subjects harmed and if so, how? This case was wrongly conducted and reported. Initially the researcher claimed that he gave participants $100 for their input. Later, LaCour confessed to entering participants in a raffle for Apple...
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Misrepresentation of Data
Macy Neblett
How do you think LaCour was able to publish falsified data in such a prestigious journal as Science? As the case study reported, LaCour lied about his funding in order to make his study seem more credible. The people who peer reviewed his study might have thought that...
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Ethics of Reproducible Research
Firstname Lastname
Background: The retracted Science paper When contact changes minds and the surrounding problems are discussed in detail in form of a case study on Responsible Conduct of Research by the Research Office of the University of New Hampshire. Read through the case study (and maybe try to...
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Assignment 3
James Kruse
James E. Kruse Writing assignment 3 6/18/17 CSAFE REU Responsible Conduct Response Prompt: What are some of the consequences of LaCour’s behavior? For Broockman and Kalla? For Green? For other researchers in this field? For UCLA? For activists? First and foremost, by falsifying data, LaCour has more than likely lost...
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Week 3 Blog Post
Andrew Kimble, III
What are some of the mentoring issues raised by this case? While reading this case study Donald Green was the mentor for Michael LaCour for his so called experiment. Green said to RetractionWatch that when Michael presented his first survey results to him he said he was so...
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Ethics of Reproducible Research
Marion Gray-Lion
This week’s assignment is to read the article provided and answer two of the questions at the end of the article. The first question is: What are the authorship issues in this case? Dr. Donald Green and Michael LaCour failed to follow the ethical standards outlined for authors...
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All Hands Meeting
Anna Steffensmeier
1pm Session: Session Name Here Statistical Foundations While I do have some background with statistics, I struggled with comprehending everything these experts discussed, however, I was able to make some small conclusions. The main topics of discussion primarily involved the following: access to data and finding a balance between...
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All-Hands Meeting Sessions
Francesca Spencer
1pm Session: Blood Pattern Analysis During this discussion, terms like the String Method and fluid dynamics and the area of convergence and origin were thrown out there and I personally wasn’t sure whether these came from a statistics or forensics background (except for fluid dynamics, I’ve heard of that...
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Assignment 2
Kahlil Sample
Some questions to consider for each of the afternoon sessions: What forensic methods are discussed? What statistical methods are discussed? If you were a full-time researcher with CSAFE, which one of the projects presented in the group would you most like to work on? Why? What future work is...
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Week 2 Blog Post
Sam Rew
1pm Session: Human Factors In this session there were a couple forensic examiners in attendance as well as several researchers to discuss how human play into introducing statistics into forensics. The forensic methods discussed included autopsy, fingerprinting, and DNA analysis to name a few. Several statistical methods were tied...
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CSAFE 2017 All Hands Meeting
Amanda Rae
CSAFE All Hands Meeting June 7-9 2017 1pm Session: Statistical Foundations This meeting was very cohesive. Everyone was respectful of one another and the facilitator kept the flow moving within the session. The core theme of this session revolved around a handful of ideas. Access to information....
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Week 2: Conference Notes
Maddie Quistgaard
1pm Session: Fingerprints The first session started off with talking about how fingerprints are very different from other disciplines and how they are regarded as sure things. One person in the discussion described them as special. Another stated that it is the number one form of identification because its...
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CSAFE All Hands Meeting Session Reports
Macy Neblett
1pm Session: Fingerprints We first discussed how fingerprints are regarded as sure things (i.e., not from a basis of doubt) and that fingerprints are the number one method of identification used worldwide. Fingerprints are also a more efficient method of identification, whether they are used for suspect linking or...
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TBD
Firstname Lastname
Background: During the 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:00am, sessions pay close attention to the 5-10 minute project reports. Whichever ones most interest you should correspond to the afternoon sessions at 1:00pm and 3:15pm. Have your agenda with you so that you can take notes on which afternoon sessions you want...
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Writing Assignment 2: All Hands Meeting Refection
James E. Kruse
The CSAFE All Hands Meeting that took place this past Wednesday through Friday was a fascinating and eye opening experience. It was a great opportunity to sit down and listen to the different approaches to the research that is currently going on in the organization. During the breakout session for...
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Review of All Hands Meeting
Andrew Kimble, III
Background: During the 8:30am, 10:00am, and 11:00am, sessions pay close attention to the 5-10 minute project reports. Whichever ones most interest you should correspond to the afternoon sessions at 1:00pm and 3:15pm. Have your agenda with you so that you can take notes on which afternoon sessions you want...
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All Hands – Information to Share
Marion Gray-Lion
The CSAFE All-Hands Meeting was held at the Gateway Hotel in Ames, Iowa starting on Wednesday, June 07, 2017, evening (with an informal greet / meet session), continuing into the following day (Thursday), and wrapping up at noon on Friday. There were presenters of various research projects...
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Podcast
Anna Steffensmeier
Blog Does what the guests on the show say surprise you? Why or why not? If you’ve taken courses in forensics, do you agree with their assessments? Summarize your position briefly. I am surprised by the lack of foundation that we have in forensics. It seems as if this is...
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Misconceptions of Forensic Science
Francesca Spencer
Week 1 Blog Post: The first thing about this podcast that stood out to me that I liked was how it directly addressed the “forensic science” that occurs in TV shows and movies and how it’s really not like that in the real world in many ways. Because of...
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Assignment 1: Blog Post
Kahlil Sample
The information that is discsussed in the podcast by the numerous guests does not surprise me to any extent. The United States criminal justice system is very flawed and has been for quite an extensive time period. There have been multiple cases nationwide where innocent and indigent defendants have been...
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Week 1 Blog Post
Sam Rew
I was surprised by what the guests said on the show. I had no idea that bite marks were still being used and accepted in cases as evidence. People in the justice system usually have limited to no background in science so the evidence being presented in court can be...
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Science Friday
Amanda Rae
What the scientists said did surprise me. I haven’t taken a forensics course. I assumed their “statistics” would have been more science based than fabricated. I thought it was interesting that 95% of hair samples favored the prosecution. That seems abnormally high. If I was being prosecuted I wouldn’t have...
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Forensics Reliability
Maddie Quistgaard
Question 1: Does what the guests on the show say surprise you? Why or why not? If you’ve taken courses in forensics, do you agree with their assessments? Summarize your position briefly. In my opinion, what the guests say doesn’t surprise me because it’s true that there are tests and...
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Scientific Analysis and Representation of Forensic Evidence
Macy Neblett
I was not really surprised at what the guests had to say. Although, I was somewhat surprised to hear that it wasn’t just some applications of forensic science that were flawed. In my Intro to Forensics class, we discussed the NIST report and the recommendation that should be applied to...
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Week 1 Blog
James Kruse
Background: James E. Kruse - Writing assignment 1 - 6/4/17 - CSAFE REU - Science Friday Response First and foremost, I find it concerning that there is this much bias in the forensic science field. Prior to this point, I was aware that there were problems with funding and...
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Week 1 Blog Post
Andrew Kimble, III
Q: Does what the guests on the show say surprise you? Why or why not? If you’ve taken courses in forensics, do you agree with their assessments? Summarize your position briefly. No, what the guests on the show said were absolutely right from the scienist not doing their job fully...
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Junk Science Does Hurt
Marion GrayLion
In response to the podcast, what the speakers say on the show does not surprise me due to previous exposure to this subject via coursework in forensic studies. Through one class in particular, Forensic Professional Practice, the professor assigned a research project in which the students were...
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Assignment Week 1 - Does this surprise you?
Firstname Lastname
Background: As we start thinking about the application of statistics in forensics this summer, consider this podcast, from Science Friday a few weeks ago. Write a short response (maybe 4-5 paragraphs), responding to the podcast and the following questions: Does what the guests on the show say surprise...
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