• Question: How do you come to conclusions about the work that you do?

    Asked by silleserena to Jamie, Jodie, Kat, Mark, Niamh on 16 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Jamie Pringle

      Jamie Pringle answered on 14 Mar 2011:

      Hello silleserena,

      As a scientist, I suggest a hypothesis, conduct some experiments, and then look at the results. If they show what I am looking for, then you could say that the hypothesis is correct which is a conclusion of that particular experiment.

    • Photo: Katherine Davies

      Katherine Davies answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi Serena

      Conclusions are always difficult to make. I have to look at previous work similar to what I have done, see if my results back up theirs and make my own judgements as to what my results mean.

      Its always a difficult part of the process, as there are always exceptions to the rule. So for example, I could say that I could say that based on the evidence for a particular case it is possible to estimate time-since-death to within 4 hours, but this depends on the local environmental conditions, such as temperature fluctuations, a wrapped body, poor access etc.

      We have to be as specific as possible, but always put a degree of uncertainty on it, i.e. we can be 95% certain of a result, never 100%.

    • Photo: Niamh Nic Daeid

      Niamh Nic Daeid answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      You base your conclusions of the facts that you find relating to either the experiments you are running or the scene you are investigating. More factual information means that you can test different versions of what may be occurring or may have happened and lets you have confidence in your conclusions

    • Photo: Jodie Dunnett

      Jodie Dunnett answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      When doing research it is essential to perform lots of repeats of what you are doing so that you can perform statistcal tests on your data. By looking at the results of the statistical tests, I can draw conclusions as to what my data is telling me i.e. can the metal ions in heroin be used to identify where in the world the opium it is derived from originates.

    • Photo: Mark Hill

      Mark Hill answered on 16 Mar 2011:

      Hello again Silleserena,

      I come to my conclusions by considering every aspect of my investigation, from the physical and forensic evidence, to the witness evidence. However, I will always side with the physical evidence over witnesses, as witness evidence is subject to so many weaknesses, especially with the human brain’s habit of trying to make sense of situations and to fill in the gaps of events that witnesses don’t see completely.

      I take account of my examination of the scene, the marks found, the damage sustained by the vehicles involved, the injuries sustained by the people involved, the weather at the time, the state of the road surface, the layout of the road, any forensic evidence, such as light bulb distortion (to show whether it was on at the time), tyre damage, body marks on a vehicle, maths calculations that I have made, other research, perhaps with scientists, vehicle manufacturers, etc.

      Enquiries may be in any direction – pedestrian barrier makers, traffic light phase engineers, seat-belt or airbag manufacturers. I also take note of any testing that I may have done, mechanical reconstructions, where I place the vehicles back together. I also research scientific papers, journals and books for deeper information on different matters.

      Then I interpret my findings and write my conclusions. It is a very lengthy process that takes hundreds of hours for each collision.

      Thank you for your thoughtful question.

      Mark.

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