An Analysis on the Choice of Alpha Level in the Osteometric Pair-matching of the Os Coxa, Scapula, and Clavicle

• Autores: Jeffrey James Lynch
• Localización: Journal of forensic sciences, ISSN-e 1556-4029, ISSN 0022-1198, Vol. 63, Nº. 3, 2018, págs. 793-797
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • This study compares the use of 0.05 and 0.10 alpha levels with the updated osteometric pair-matching model on two samples of the os coxa, scapula, and clavicle. The samples include the Forensic Data Bank, and the osteometric sorting reference used within the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Mixed-effects two-way analyses of variance were used to analyze bilateral asymmetry in the standard measurements. In total, 3,793,566 t-tests were conducted for osteometric pair-matching analysis. The results indicate high levels of exclusion power, and accuracy can be obtained with the os coxa and scapula. The clavicle standard measurements capture too much asymmetry causing a lower exclusion to accuracy ratio for osteometric pair-matching relative to other elements. Both 0.05 and 0.10 alpha levels provide acceptable levels of performance. A lower alpha level will result in higher accuracy with less exclusion, and a higher alpha level will result in lower accu- racy with more exclusions.