2018 tallied facial soft tissue thicknesses for adults and sub-adults. (November 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Stephan, Carl N.
• Is Part Of: Forensic science international. Volume 280(2017)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 123
• Publication Date: 2017-11
• Subjects: Forensic science -- Soft tissue depth -- Soft tissue thicknesses -- Craniofacial identification standards -- Skull -- Face; Medical jurisprudence -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Forensic -- Periodicals; Forensic Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine légale -- Périodiques; Chimie légale -- Périodiques; Gerechtelijke geneeskunde; Gerechtelijke chemie; Gerechtelijke psychiatrie; Chemistry, Forensic; Medical jurisprudence; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 614.1
• DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.09.016
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0379-0738

Abstract

Highlights: Overall, >227, 400 facial soft tissues have been collected in the literature. Since 2008, data for >5450 new individuals have been reported. Herein, updated grand and rolling means are described for the 1883–2017 data. The grand means triangulate on population parameters for improved accuracy. The new grand means yield a standard error of the estimate = 3.7 mm. Abstract: The tallied facial soft tissue thicknesses (or T-Tables) represent grand means of published facial soft tissue thickness sample means. These sample means have been drawn from across the full-breadth of the facial soft tissue thickness (FSTT) literature, including forensic science, anthropology and odontology. The report of new summary statistics for >1290 new sub-adults and >2200 new adults since the last T-Table calculation, in 2008 for sub-adults and 2013 for adults respectively, makes their update timely. The maximum sample sizes at any landmark now stand at 3023 for individuals aged 0–11 years old (g–g′); 3145 for individuals aged 12–17 years old (n–se′); and 10, 333 for adults (n–se′). Following the recalculation of grand weighted means and comparison to the original 2008 data, some shifts in the T-Table statistics are evident at specific landmarks, namely: 2–2.5 mm increases at gonion (go–go′) and mid-mandibular border (mmb–mmb′) for adults; 3.5 mm decrease at gonion (go–go′) for 12–17 year olds; and 2.0 mm decrease at menton (me–me′) for 0–11 year olds. Differences at all other landmarks (91–100% depending on the dataset) were minimal being <1.0 mm. Performance tests of the new grand means as point estimators (using individuals with known FSTT size from the C-Table), show the 2018 T-Table statistics to produce marginally less error than the 2013 means: 2018 standard error of the estimate = 3.7 mm in contrast to 2013 standard error of the estimate = 3.9 mm. The long run nature of the T-Table statistics (i.e., big data) and quantified performance test accuracies on known subjects, earmark the 2018 T-Table as the premier FSTT standard for craniofacial identification casework. In the distant future, this is likely to change as the C-Table raw data repository grows, allowing shorths and shormaxes to be calculated for large samples. Given current raw data repository sample sizes of 0–1574 for T-Table landmarks (notably lower for younger individuals), there is some way to go before enhanced central tendency estimators can entirely replace untrimmed arithmetic means.