NCJ Number
150630
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 39 Issue: 4 Dated: (July 1994) Pages: 1047-1056
Date Published
1994
Length
10 pages
Annotation
The accuracy and reliability of 17 morphological traits of the pelvis often used to determine the gender of human skeletal remains were assessed using a sample of 49 right and left adult hip bones and sacra of documented individuals from a church cemetery dating from the 19th century.
Abstract
A hypothetical ranking of the traits was developed from the research literature. Next, individual traits were evaluated for precision and accuracy of observations, and combinations of two and three traits were evaluated for their collective effectiveness as gender indicators. The effect of age on the accuracy of traits for sex determination was also examined. Results revealed that the precision of the traits was generally good. In addition, several combinations of three criteria produced higher levels of accuracy than the trait list as a whole. A total of six traits was judged to be most effective as determinants of gender due to low intraobserver error levels and accuracy rates higher than 83 percent. Despite the small sample size, no indication existed of an age effect on the precision or accuracy of the traits. Tables and 33 references (Author abstract modified)