ERIC Number: EJ1031921
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 29
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1069-1898
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Available Date: N/A
Teaching an Application of Bayes' Rule for Legal Decision-Making: Measuring the Strength of Evidence
Satake, Eiki; Murray, Amy Vashlishan
Journal of Statistics Education, v22 n1 2014
Although Bayesian methodology has become a powerful approach for describing uncertainty, it has largely been avoided in undergraduate statistics education. Here we demonstrate that one can present Bayes' Rule in the classroom through a hypothetical, yet realistic, legal scenario designed to spur the interests of students in introductory- and intermediate-level statistics classes. The teaching scenario described in this paper not only illustrates the practical application of Bayes' Rule to legal decision-making, but also emphasizes the cumulative nature of the Bayesian method in measuring the strength of the evidence. This highlights the Bayesian method as an alternative to the traditional inferential methods, such as p value and hypothesis tests. Within the context of the legal scenario, we also introduce DNA analysis, implement a modified version of Bayes' Rule, and utilize Bayes' Factor in the computation process to further promote students' intellectual curiosities and incite lively discussion pertaining to the jury decision-making process about the defendant's status of guilt.
Descriptors: Bayesian Statistics, College Mathematics, Mathematics Instruction, Statistics, Decision Making, Legal Responsibility, Measurement Techniques, Inferences, Crime, Court Litigation, Vignettes, Computation, Equations (Mathematics), Probability, Genetics, Questionnaires, Student Interests, Likert Scales, Instructional Effectiveness, Teaching Methods, College Students, College Faculty
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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