Basic Concepts of Probability and Statistics in the Law

✍ Scribed by Michael O. Finkelstein (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 174
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book sets out basic statistical tools as they have been applied in actual legal disputes. Examples range over diverse fields of law, such as identification evidence, mass torts, securities law, environmental regulation, and capital punishment, among many others. In some notable cases, such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore, the book explores aspects of the statistical evidence that were unrecognized or misconceived by the parties or the court. For the statistics student, the book will give a deeper appreciation of foundation concepts and provide a wealth of real life applications. For the lawyer, or law student, the book will introduce a subject that has become increasingly important both in litigation and in studies of the legal system. The book is self-contained and may be read without background in probability or statistics.

Michael O. Finkelstein is a lawyer and has been described as a pioneer in the use of statistics in law. He has for many years taught Statistics for Lawyers at Columbia Law School, and has also taught this subject at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania law schools. In addition to numerous articles, he is the author of Quantitative Methods in Law, published in 1978, and is the co-author with Professor Bruce Levin of Statistics for Lawyers, first published in 1990 and now in its second edition.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Probability....Pages 1-18
Probability....Pages 1-18
Descriptive Tools....Pages 19-40
Descriptive Tools....Pages 19-40
Compound Events....Pages 41-52
Compound Events....Pages 41-52
Significance....Pages 53-65
Significance....Pages 53-65
Random Variables and Their Distributions....Pages 67-80
Random Variables and Their Distributions....Pages 67-80
Confidence....Pages 81-87
Confidence....Pages 81-87
Power....Pages 89-94
Power....Pages 89-94
Sampling....Pages 95-105
Sampling....Pages 95-105
Epidemiology....Pages 107-115
Epidemiology....Pages 107-115
Combining the Evidence....Pages 117-125
Combining the Evidence....Pages 117-125
Regression Models....Pages 127-143
Regression Models....Pages 127-143
Regression Models – Further Considerations....Pages 145-164
Regression Models – Further Considerations....Pages 145-164
Back Matter....Pages 165-172

✦ Subjects

Fundamentals of Law; Statistics for Social Science, Behavorial Science, Education, Public Policy, and Law