23.3584, FYI: Forensic Transcription Experiment

Mon Aug 27 18:02:50 UTC 2012

LINGUIST List: Vol-23-3584. Mon Aug 27 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.3584, FYI: Forensic Transcription Experiment

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Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2012 14:02:41
From: Helen Fraser [helenbfraser at gmail.com]
Subject: Forensic Transcription Experiment

E-mail this message to a friend:
http://linguistlist.org/issues/emailmessage/verification.cfm?iss=23-3584.html&submissionid=4552242&topicid=6&msgnumber=1
 Some list-members may remember last year hearing about or participating in 
(thanks) an experiment about transcription of hard-to-hear audio used as 
evidence in legal cases.

http://www.equinoxpub.com/index.php/IJSLL/article/view/11212

I am now doing a new experiment. It is a bit different form last year's, using more 
difficult material, and seeking to investigate a different kind of question - but still 
quite interesting I think, to those who like this kind of thing.

I would be most grateful if any list-members were able to do the experiment. 
Some of you may wish to give the experiment to students, or to friends and 
acquaintances. That is great but please do be aware it is suitable for adults only 
(due to coarse language and the murder theme). I recommend you look through 
it yourself first before passing it on.

I enclose below the info pages from the experiment, so you will know in advance 
what it is about. If you feel able to give it a go, you can access it via the link 
below.

https://qasiatrial.asia.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_acafu5MvVW2VnIF

Thanks in advance!

Helen Fraser

Brief Introduction:
Legal cases increasingly use evidence in the form of covert recordings, obtained 
by undercover listening device or similar means.
Sometimes these recordings are of very poor quality, to the extent it is hard to 
make out the words that are spoken.

This raises the problem of how to be sure the jury hears the evidence accurately. 

Current legal practice (in Australia) is to play a hard-to-hear recording once in 
court, then make it available for further listening in the jury room. However, there 
are no specific directions as to how many times a jury should listen, and indeed 
no way of knowing how many times they actually do listen, if at all.

In fact, though it is known that, in general, listening several times can aid 
perception, there has been little research on the effect of repeated listening. The 
present experiment aims to investigate this.

It asks participants to imagine they are on the jury as they listen to hard-to-hear 
audio from a real murder trial (now concluded), then correlates their accuracy in 
hearing the audio with the number of times they listened.

The experiment is quite demanding. The audio is 4 minutes in duration, and very 
hard to hear. You will probably need to listen several times to make it out, plus 
there is other evidence about the murder to read. People who enjoy nutting out 
criminal cases generally find it interesting.

If you are willing to participate, the next page has a detailed information and 
consent form. Please be sure you know exactly what the experiment involves 
before giving your consent.

Thanks

Dr Helen Fraser (independent researcher)

P.S. if you have any questions before starting please feel free to ask via 
helen at helenfraser.com.au

Information and Consent:
Thank you for your interest in this experiment.

Ethics requires that we start with this page of information to be sure you know 
exactly what the experiment is about and how it will work.
Please read the following carefully, especially underlined parts, and then we can 
begin. 

Researcher:
The experiment is being conducted by Dr Helen Fraser, an independent 
researcher in the field of forensic phonetics. You can find more information about 
Dr Fraser at helenfraser.com.au

Aim of the Study:
This study is about hard-to-hear audio used as evidence in criminal cases. It 
aims to investigate how many times a jury needs to listen to this kind of material 
before it becomes fully intelligible.

Warning:
This study is suitable for those over 18 years only. It involves listening to audio 
from a real murder trial, which contains coarse language. You can withdraw at 
any time if you find the material unpleasant in any way, but it is better not to begin 
if you feel you may be affected. 

Time Requirement:
The experiment should take on average about 30 minutes. However, you might 
want to set aside a longer time in case you find you would like to explore the 
material in more detail.

Equipment Requirements:
You need a good connection to the Internet throughout the experiment, and a 
quiet location. It is best if you can use headphones, though this is not essential. 

Language Requirements:
The experiment is designed for native speakers of English. Proficient non-native 
speakers of English are welcome to participate but please indicate your language 
background in the appropriate place.

Anonymity:
Your participation is completely anonymous, but you will be asked to fill out 
some demographic questions (about your age, language and education 
background, etc) at the end. 

Research Process:
Responses to questions will sometimes involve written words, and sometimes 
simple yes/no or rating scale responses.  Written responses may be quoted in a 
future report on the results, but there is no means of associating any response 
with any individual, as individuals cannot be identified through their participation.
It is anticipated the research will be completed by July of 2013. The results may 
be presented at conferences or written up for publication.

Reminder:
Participation is completely voluntary. If you decide to participate, but then change 
your mind, you are free to stop at any time simply by leaving the website.
It is unlikely that this study will raise any personal or upsetting issues, but if it 
does you may wish to contact your local Community Health Centre.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email the researcher, Dr Helen 
Fraser on helen at helenfraser.com.au. Contact details will be given again at the 
end. 

Request for confidentiality:
As you will see, it is important to start the experiment with no preconceptions, so 
please do not discuss this experiment with anyone who has not already done it!

Thanks again!

Helen Fraser

P.S. We will show you the contact information again at the end of the experiment. 

Linguistic Field(s): Forensic Linguistics

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