Investigation

[game_freak517]

I need help with my investigation. My projest is testing the accuracy of an eyewitness testimony. I don't know what to do first. I'm lost...any pointers!?!?! I need then as soon as possible. This is not a last minute thing, but I will be busy the next couple of days and it's due the 14th!!! Please help if you can. Thank you.

[MelissaB]

There are many ways to go about this, but my first idea would be to show people (independently) a video of an event (preferably one you videotaped yourself, so it's not from a movie they may have seen before) and then ask them questions about it. The more your questions are like those asked of an eyewitness to a crime, the better the project will be. However, beware of asking questions that you cannot easily score the accuracy of. For example, 'Can you give the approximate weight of the man in the video' is a good question because you can compare it to his actual weight, but 'Describe the expression on his face' is probably bad because people may honestly describe the same expression differently. Also, you may have to consider how you will describe the accuracy of questions such as 'What color sweatshirt was he wearing?'--if he was wearing red, 'orange' may be closer to the truth than 'green'. (Also, beware asking questions about colors to colorblind test subjects.)

It's very likely that you will have huge differences between test subjects, so you should try to have as many people watch the video and answer the questions as possible.

[Lise Byrd]

Two other students on this forum have done projects similar to the one you are thinking about. Looking through what they did may help you.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... php?t=1594

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... php?t=1484

Science Buddies also has a page on the types of experiments you can do on eyewitness testimony:
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... ?from=Home

Hope this helps!
Sonia