Hierarchy of Propositions
Definition
A framework that classifies forensic questions at source level (where did this come from?), activity level (what was the person doing?), and offence level (was a crime committed?). Each level requires more inference and carries more uncertainty.
Related terms
- Activity-Level Interpretation
- An opinion about what activity produced or deposited the evidence, rather than simply what the source of the evidence is. Activity-level conclusions...
- Bayesian Reasoning
- A framework for updating beliefs in the light of evidence. Prior probabilities are combined with the likelihood of the evidence to produce...
- Hypothesis
- A proposed explanation for observed evidence. In reconstruction, competing hypotheses are evaluated against the physical facts and background knowledge. A good hypothesis...
- Likelihood Ratio (LR)
- The ratio of two conditional probabilities: the probability of the observed evidence given the prosecution's hypothesis (same source), divided by the probability...
- Reconstruction
- The stage at which all analytical findings are assembled into a coherent account of how an event unfolded. Reconstruction draws on scene...
Explained in
- Reconstruction and Probabilistic ReasoningA framework that classifies forensic questions at source level (where did this come from?), activity level (what was the person doing?), and offence level (was...