Scientific Method: Applications in Failure Investigation and Forensic Science

Most failure or accident investigations begin at the end of the story: after the explosion, after the fire has been extinguished, or after the collapse. In many instances, information about the last event and the starting event is known reasonably well. Information about what occurred between these endpoints, however, is often unclear, confusing, and perhaps contradictory. Scientific Method: Applications in Failure Investigation and Forensic Science explains how scientific investigative methods can best be used to determine why and how a particular event occurred.

While employing examples from forensic engineering, the book uses principles and ideas applicable to most of the forensic sciences. The author examines the role of the failure investigator, describes the fundamental method for investigation, discusses the optimal way to organize evidence, and explores the four most common reasons why some investigations fail. The book provides three case studies that exemplify proper report writing, contains a special chapter profiling a criminal case by noted forensic specialist Jon J. Nordby, and offers a reading list of resources for further study.

Concise and illustrative, this volume demonstrates how the scientific method can be applied to failure investigation in ways that avoid flawed reasoning while delivering convincing reconstruction scenarios. Investigators can pinpoint where things went wrong, providing valuable information that can prevent another catastrophe.

Randall K. Noon owns a consulting firm in Hiawatha, Kansas.

Introduction
General
What a Failure Investigator Does
The Conclusion Pyramid
Some Common Terms of the Art
Crime versus Failure
How Accidents and Failures Occur
Eyewitness Information
Some Investigative Methods
Role in the Legal System
The Fundamental Method
The Fundamental Basis for Investigation
The Scientific Method
The Value of Falsification
Iteration: The Evolution of a Hypothesis
Lessons Learned
More about the Fundamental Method
More Historical Background
A Comparison of Deductive and Inductive Reasoning
Apriorism and Aposteriorism
Sophistry
The Method of Exhaustion
Coincidence, Correlation, and Causation
Applying the Scientific Method to Determine a Root Cause
The Scientific Method and the Legal System
Convergence of Independent Methods
Occam’s Razor
Organizing Evidence
Data Collection and Efficient Sorting Schemes
Verification of Facts
Organization of Data and Evidence: Timelines
Cause-and-Effect Diagrams
A Place to Start
Event and Causal Factors Diagrams
Investigation Strategies
Four Common Reasons Why Some Investigations Fail
Introduction
Reason 1: The Tail Wagging the Dog
Reason 2: Lipstick on a Corpse
Reason 3: Elementary, My Dear Watson, Elementary
Reason 4: Dilution of the Solution
Report Writing: Three Case Studies
Reporting the Findings of an Investigation
Three Sample Reports
Misplaced Method in the Science of Murder
Jon J. Nordby, PhD, D-ABMDI
Introduction
The Scene
Further Search of the Premises
The State’s Expert Reconstructs the Murder from the Clues
Revisiting the Scene Science: The Problem of Data
Testing to Develop Scientific Inferences from Data
Scientific Inferences from the Decedent’s Sweater
Scientific Inferences from the Suspect’s Glasses
Scientific Conclusions about the Shooting Events
Reading List
Books and Monographs
Papers and Articles
Index