Methodological Review of Jury Research in the United States

• NCJ Number: 75237
• Author(s): J A White
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 32 pages
• Sale Source: Eric Document Reproduction Service; Not Available Through National Institute of Justice/NCJRS Document Loan Program
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Communication Association, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, May 5-7, 1979.

Annotation

This paper examines the research methodologies used to conduct jury research and suggests methods to improve the accuracy of future research.

Abstract

Researchers who have attempted to study the functioning of the jury have been hampered by the absolute confidentiality of jury deliberations. Researchers have tried to circumvent this difficulty by using simulated juries and have focused largely on the influence of the social status of jurors during deliberations. More recent research, however, suggests that jurors seldom change opinions during deliberations; thus, future study of the influence of status on verdicts should consider the status attributes which predispose jurors to particular verdicts. Although more recent studies have been methodologically superior in the accurate reproduction of courtroom atmoshpere, even greater accuracy can be attained by use of the participant/observer method, which is recommended in view of the right of the researcher-as-juror to publish about the trial experience. This method could yield the first case study of the American jury. Further research is suggested on the effects on jurors' decisionmaking of such factors as jurors' training and listening comprehension, stress, friendship clique formation, perceptions of defendants' worth, and extralegal considerations. Research may prove to be a catalyst for reform in the jury selection process. A bibliography of about 60 references is given. (ERIC abstract modified)