RESEARCH PROPOSAL

Rushi Patel
Independent Research GTPD. 2
2017-2018
Title: The One Decision: The Impact of Juror Bias On A Person’s Life

Overview Of Research:
The study of this research project is about how juror bias plays in court cases, the
significant impact of juror bias on the cases, and a primary focus on how to reduce these biases
in cases. After careful analysis, the research will attempt to apply findings in criminal cases
where jurors are used, and attempt to reduce juror bias. The aspirations of the research will be
attempting to create fairer trials in court cases.
Background and Rationale:
Laws are rules, regulations, and restrictions that apply to all members of society. The role
of the jury is extremely important because it determines the ruling of the defendant, whether they
spend time in jail and suffer the scrutiny of the criminal system or have the justice system play
them right and be free of their accused charges. Jurors are ordinary people in the United States
that are affected in the same ways, others are affected by society. The way the current criminal
system works can have lives be ruined by these societal pressures placed upon jurors. These
pressures can lead jurors to have misjudgments because their beliefs are based on societal values.
News stories of innocent men suffering years of pain in the criminal system being released have
brought attention to what the United States criminal justice system really is, a substandard
system that needs changing.
However, the United States believes the criminal justice system to be “perfect,” which
cannot be seen as true. According to a report, The United States has one of the highest conviction
rates compared to any other developed country in the world, making it one of the worst criminal
systems amongst the developed nations of the world. America’s population is about 5% of the
world’s population, and a quarter of it is in jail or in “correctional facilities.” In comparison, 78
people out of 100,000 thousand Germans in Germany are actually convicted. The United
Criminal System is one of the worst in comparison to more developed countries like Germany.
(Benforado)
Though the United States is one of the few countries that actually use juries in criminal
cases, these biased jurors can result in skewed decisions. This is because of how similar juries
are in a post-conviction criminal case. Multiple studies can verify that the juries usually consist
of predominantly white men or women and very few minorities (like Latinos or African
American). The predominant jury pools can skew judgments and hypothetically misjudge
evidence in cases and consequently put an innocent man in jail.
Research Methodology:
Research Question:
How can juror bias be reduced in criminal cases?
Research Thesis
Juror bias reduction can happen by being able to reduce the number of people that make
an immediate decision and sticks by it, reduce the amount of racial bias by being able to have a
change in the jury pool and reduce the amount of impulsive thinking by jurors by nudging.
Prisoners who are accused of serious criminal charges, usually has jurors decide their
conviction, innocent or guilty. To give judges a better idea on the bias laid upon jurors, they
should understand the proportions of the racial jury pools, the likelihood of conviction of the
defendant based upon their race, the effects of impulsive thinking of jurors in a case, and how
one-sided thinking is introduced in jurors within cases.
Research Design Model:
A quantitative research design was chosen for this project. The motive behind this data
collection was to discover if there was a correlation between race and juror bias. This was chosen
because of how much information can actually be obtained when looking at it statistically. The
method that was selected was causal-comparative research. By using causal-comparative
research, it will allow for a possible cause and effect relationship between race and juror bias.
Therefore, quantitative data can be used and be combined for the best conclusion, and the
discovery of the relationship between race and the verdict of a case. The independent variable is
the different races of the jurors, with the dependent variable being the ruling of criminals.
Data Collection:
The data collection tool used was a meta-analysis. Using meta-analysis allows a summary
of various studies that are similar and comes together to make one grand conclusion. This type of
data collection is useful because it allows us to see if the relationship seen in one case study, can
be connected back to another. Using meta-analysis will help with bringing in the ideas behind the
correlation in all the case studies, and establish a new idea. Furthermore, if the data collection
consists of only looking at one case of one trial, the researcher will not know if the findings of
this research are the overall conclusion. Using both statistics and observations, allows much
analysis to occur. This data collection leads to a better well-rounded evaluation of the
connections between the race of the jury and the verdict of the case.
Through the data collection, it can be seen that the majority of the time white jurors were
selected and filled almost the entirety of the juror pool in cases. As a result of the data collection,
the majority of the juror pool being filled with predominantly white jurors will cause increased
severity in conviction rates. While as, for minorities like African Americans and Latinos, they
are rarely ever filled as the majority in a jury pool. In most cases, white jurors are predominantly
used in jury pools. When African Americans filled the majority of the jury pool, there would be a
decrease in the severity levels of conviction rates of the defendant.
The test will consider the gathered results and create a way to have the reductions in bias
and prevent one race to predominantly fill the juror pool than the other. This project aims to
evaluate the different bias among several jurors and attempt to find the one with the least amount
of bias, creating a more equitable trial.
Product Objectives:
Following the year of study, a website will be created to inform prospective jurors or
people that have already been part of jury duty. Visitors to the website will be able to use several
different types of tests, that test for several different types of biases. With the tests, the website
will provide information about if the test is taken by them. Specifically about the different biases
that the people could be potentially be tested for. Furthermore, a brochure will be provided at
courthouses that will talk about the dangers of juror bias. In this brochure, a QR code will be
provided to allow for readers to scan the code on their mobile device and be taken directly to the
website, being able to take tests that will determine how bias they are.
The target audience for such a website would be people that have already gone through
jury duty. This is because the information about juror bias will specifically be applied to people
that have already gone through juror duty. Information from the website and brochure will
inform people of how crucial juror bias really is in criminal court cases. Additionally, the
webiste will have people discover the different biases they have.
Logistical Considerations:
The website and brochure will serve as a productive way to inform people about the
dangers of juror bias and test for different types of biases they had. The test will be appealing to
people that have been part of jury duty because it will help give a new insight of past experiences
in jury duty. The only monetary costs that would be needed are the printing costs for the
brochure. The website wouldn't require any money because the website will be made by Weebly,
a web-hosting services, featuring a drag and drop website builder that is free for all people to
use. Media resources, such as websites, would serve as an effective way to reach a wider
audience and appeal to more people.

Approval:
___________________ _______________________ _____________________
Student Signature GT Resource Teacher Signature Mentor/Advisor
 ​ orks Cited:
W
Benforado, Adam. ​Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice​. Crown Publishers,
2015.