1. Introduction To FactLogic

FactLogic can help you evaluate 31 types of cases. How to Use FactLogic shows how they are classified according to five purposes of evaluation and three types of evaluators. The following brief comments introduce you to FactLogic software.

1.1 Organize Your Case

At the least, FactLogic helps you organization your case. When you create your case, you will:

• Enter some identification (i.e., name, number, and type of case).

• Enter one or more assertions.

• Enter the facts.

 The questions you address when you enter these data require you to think as a fact finder would (i.e., one that determines the realities of a case).  And that’s a good start!

1.2 Evaluate An Assertion Logically

In its simplest applications, FactLogic is an investigative or research tool: Judge the facts, express your judgments as probabilities, and FactLogic evaluates any assertion logically.

1.3 Compare Assertions

If you evaluate two or more assertions from the same facts, you can compare them (i.e., you can compare the probabilities the assertions are true).  Similarly, you can compare assertions of an especially common type: The responsibility of potential suspects (i.e., you can compare the probabilities the potential suspects are responsible).

1.4 Decide A Legal Action

You can decide a legal action by comparing two probabilities: The probability an assertion is true and a standard of proof. The law intends that the importance of the legal action to be decided is related to the standard of proof.

 Comparing the probability an assertion is true to a standard of proof is required to:

• decide a civil case

• decide a criminal case, and

• decide on a criminal action.

1.5 Predict Your Verdicts

For cases that may go to trial, FactLogic evaluates assertions logically (as always), but it also evaluates them intuitively: It is necessary to evaluate assertions intuitively for these cases because fact finders (i.e., judges and jurors) will evaluate assertions intuitively in the trial; the objective of evaluating a case that may go to trial is to emulate the fact finders. To predict a verdict, it is necessary to invite a number of evaluators to emulate fact finders. Evaluators and fact finders decide by comparing the probability an assertion is true to the standard of proof. FactLogic predicts the verdict for each assertion by analyzing the decisions of evaluators and also the criteria for the verdicts. 

1.6 Evaluate Assertions with Precision and Accuracy

You can evaluate any case yourself or you can invite evaluators. You would evaluate it yourself to quickly and easily “understand” your case. You would invite evaluators to obtain precision for the evaluations. In fact, the more evaluators, the greater the precision. If evaluators are drawn randomly from the appropriate population and their evaluations are independent, they provide more than precision - they provide accuracy! When you assign an evaluator to the case, FactLogic sends an e-mail message that contains the link to the Web page in which the evaluator can privately enter judgments about the facts. Evaluators can be co-located or dispersed - depending upon the case and available technology. Only the administrator knows the results from their judgments.

Section 2 discusses some features of FactLogic that apply to all purposes of evaluation, and Section 3 discusses the types of evaluators.