Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Exploring the relationship between stride, stat...
View graph of relations

Exploring the relationship between stride, stature and hand size for forensic assessment

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
  • Richard M. Guest
  • Oscar Miguel-Hurtado
  • Sarah Stevenage
  • Sue Black
Close
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>1/11/2017
<mark>Journal</mark>Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine
Volume52
Number of pages10
Pages (from-to)46-55
Publication StatusPublished
Early online date26/08/17
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

Forensic evidence often relies on a combination of accurately recorded measurements, estimated measurements from landmark data such as a subject's stature given a known measurement within an image, and inferred data. In this study a novel dataset is used to explore linkages between hand measurements, stature, leg length and stride. These three measurements replicate the type of evidence found in surveillance videos with stride being extracted from an automated gait analysis system. Through correlations and regression modelling, it is possible to generate accurate predictions of stature from hand size, leg length and stride length (and vice versa), and to predict leg and stride length from hand size with, or without, stature as an intermediary variable. The study also shows improved accuracy when a subject's sex is known a-priori. Our method and models indicate the possibility of calculating or checking relationships between a suspect's physical measurements, particularly when only one component is captured as an accurately recorded measurement.

Bibliographic note

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council in the production of this work funded as part of EPSRC EP/J004995/1.