ABSTRACT
Forensic scientists, lawyers and other participants of the legal process routinely make decisions under circumstances of uncertainty. Propositions (hypotheses) may relate to the source or nature of forensic traces, marks and objects. This chapter describes statistical decision theory (including Bayesian inference procedures to inform decision makers), and it reviews decision science research to supply the basis for an informed discourse about decision analysis in forensic science applications. It presents the standard elements of statistical decision theory for decision problems arising in the law in general and in forensic science in particular. The exposition includes examples such as decisions about identification or individualization.
