International Practices in Forensic Speaker Comparison

Authors

  • Erica Gold University of York
  • Peter French J.P. French Associates & University of York

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v18i2.293

Keywords:

forensic speaker comparison, survey, international practices, methodology, features, conclusion frameworks

Abstract

The results of the first international survey on forensic speaker comparison practices are presented in this paper. Thirty-six experts from 13 countries and 5 continents responded to a series of questions concerning their practices in casework. Despite the responses revealing a range of differences, there is nevertheless a reasonably strong convergence with respect to the importance assigned to particular speech features, methodology and choice of framework for expressing conclusions. Practices and preferences revealed by the survey are discussed in the context of constraints imposed by the institutions and jurisdictions within which the participants are situated, and in relation to contemporary trends and developments within forensic speech science.

Author Biographies

  • Erica Gold, University of York
    Erica Gold holds degrees from the University of California, San Diego (BA Linguistics) and the University of York (MSc Forensic Speech Science). She is currently a Research Fellow in the Department of Language and Linguistic Science at the University of York working on her PhD project entitled Calculation of Likelihood Ratios Using Phonetic and Linguistic Features. She is a member of the International Association of Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics.
  • Peter French, J.P. French Associates & University of York
    Peter French is Chairman of JP French Associates Forensic Speech and Acoustics Laboratory and Honorary Professor in the Department of Language Science at the University of York where he undertakes and supervises research and teaches postgraduate courses in Forensic Speech science. He is President of IAFPA and a founding editor of the International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law. Over the past twenty-five years he has been involved in around five thousand forensic cases involving sound, speech and language.

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Published

2011-11-30

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 2 (2011)

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Gold, E., & French, P. (2011). International Practices in Forensic Speaker Comparison. International Journal of Speech, Language and the Law, 18(2), 293-307. https://doi.org/10.1558/ijsll.v18i2.293