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MAROSA5913 
ProposalDefensePresentation-Mathew1.pptxVOIR DIRE SUITABILITY: A COMPREHENSIVE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW OF THE JURY SELECTION PROCESS
By: Mathew M. Rosario
Committee Members
Dr. Patricia Fusch, Chair
Dr. Ray Bynum, Committee Member
Problem Statement
The jury's selection identified and studied in previous research reveal that there is a lack of knowledge about the voir dire process's scientific framework regarding the selection of an individual juror. These circumstantial differences make it difficult to predict if and how changes to voir dire will occur if there was a scientific framework within the selection process (Rock, 2020).
There is no scientific process within the selection frameworks that emphasize jurors' selection (Schwartzberg 2018). Voir dire is an essential aspect of influence during trial proceedings (Dukes, 2017). Individual jurors may use their viewpoints and experiences to determine their position in a case if they are unable to understand the evidence (Harty & Hermanson, 2020).
Anona Su (2020) showed that selected jurors are likely to offer varying verdicts depending on the defendants' traits or the victims. The voir dire vet’s potential jurors for bias or prejudice and falls under two categories: basic statutory requirements for the jury and to reduce and determine prejudice.
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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this systematic literature review is to;
Explore what methods are used to select and evaluate juror's suitability to evaluate a trial.
Bridge the literature gap that exists between jury selection and impartiality.
The examination will focus on the effectiveness, processes, and practices of the voir dire process and why the process is beneficial in selecting impartial juries.
There may be specific practices and strategies typically displayed by attorneys that directly relate to jury selection impartiality.
Attorneys have hired trial consultants to create a mock jury to understand the dynamic and personality needed in the jury pool to persuade the jury in favor of their position (Chancellor, 2019). Legally, intentional prejudice during jury selection triggers democratic outrage and encourages judges to act (Abramson, 2018).
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Research Questions
The following are specific research questions that will be addressed by this study:
How does the juror selection process appear to dictate jury prejudice?
What measures are used by attorneys to determine the impartiality of a juror?
What is the effectiveness of the jury selection process to dictate jury prejudice?
How does the juror selection process appear to affect trail outcomes?
Importance of the Study
This study will examine the jury selection process's suitability, provide new information on the selection process, and espouse any significant literature gaps.
The researcher will examine studies from 2015-2020 and consolidate findings that detail the jury selection process in the U.S. It is an important activity that may add new information to the body of knowledge that investigates the integrity of the jury selection process and how it affects trials.
The information will be presented to professionals in the criminal justice system to educate them on jury selection approaches effectiveness. Also, practitioners may be able to improve client services during trial consultation from a psychological conceptual framework.
Jury selection is not the only aspect that can influence a trial verdict; jury deliberations composition has been shown to lead to conflict between jurors due to social, economic, and cultural differences. For example, jurors have experienced potential deliberation prejudice concerning jury tempering within themselves because of different perceptions and understanding
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Conceptual Framework
There are two theoretical frameworks that can explain impartiality within the selection process that affects judgment and reasoning; Social Contract Theory and Attribution Theory
Social Contract Theory: This theory points out the fundamental social rules and laws that govern what is and is not socially acceptable (Caton, 2020).
For the development of moral order between and within moral societies that have otherwise avoided moral chaos, the same formulation holds (Caton, 2020).
The second level of the social contract is the product of the need to solve and mitigate disputes between societies (Caton, 2020).
Understanding the jury's temperament and characteristics within the social contract framework allows a systematic advantage of the venire process (Moehler, 2018).
As per social contract theory, judgment and perception are influenced by environmental, developmental, and cultural dynamics. Moral plurality poses a major challenge to the construction of moral philosophy. More importantly, the inconsistent belief that jurors' impartiality does not influence social cognition has led to new strategical techniques for the selection process. Potential jurors without reason can relate to the information being delivered in court and which assist them in their decision-making process which can allow a psychological perspective (Caton, 2020).
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Conceptual Framework
Attribution Theory emphasizes the behavior of oneself or others.
Attributions are the perceptions regarding the effect of information perceived that impact an observer in a meaningful way—as such, known as the positive and negative effects of preserved outcomes from judgment or evaluation for oneself or others (Kelly, 1973).
There are four attributions used by individuals to perceive and forecast the consequence of an event, these include skill, initiative, mission, and luck.
The attribution model is based on three criteria; Consensus, Distinctiveness and Consistency.
The attribution theory describes how individuals use their understanding of their environment and external perceptions of their environment to attribute triggers to the effects of various events around them (Heider, 1958).
Consensus- the covariation of conducts or behavior across a diverse group of individuals
Distinctiveness - refers to how exclusive, unique, or exceptional the behavior is to the specific situation
Consistency - the covariation of behavior that remains constant all the time
Theory explains causes of behavior in relation to events
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Conceptual Framework
Kelly expressed that several contributing factors influence one perception of self and perception of others.
Ability attribution is a personal assessment of whether ability is linked to the current success or failure, effort attribution is a personal reflection on decision making and social norm acceptance (Kelly, 1973). Simply put, Kelly's model explained the causes of behavior in relation to events.
This theory explains suggestibility and potential prejudice within the jury selection frame based on attribution perception and perceived information bias.
The theory of attribution describes how individuals use their understanding of their environment and external perceptions of their environment to attribute triggers to the effects of various events around them (Heider, 1958).
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Review of Literature
The focus of the study is to examine the use and procedures of the voir dire process determining jurors' suitability in the United States.
The study investigates the practices and use of voir dire to find the best juror to stand trial.
The jury selection process is discussed from a complex perspective. It is not just about selecting individuals to sit on a jury. The discussion revolves around the process of identifying the best individuals to evaluate a trial.
Review of Literature Continuation…..
The focus is on knowing how the Federal Voir dire and jury challenges occur in different stages to create a juror panel.
The study approach may enable the study to unearth the effectiveness of the framework used in selecting the jury members. It could also add more models and concepts to the pool of knowledge by evaluating the existing studies that synthesize the juror selection process gaps.
Review of Literature Continuation…..
The importance of decision making in the courtroom serves as an essential component of ensuring that people are aware of the practices used in the selection process
Moreover, a systematic literature review aim is a foundation of knowledge to identify inconstancies, gaps in research, and open questions for further research by using credible and reliable sources (Walter & Stouck, 2020).
Review of Literature Continuation…..
The importance of decision making in the courtroom serves as an essential component of ensuring that people are aware of the practices used in the selection process (Flanagan, 2018)).
This falls under two categories: determining basic statutory requirements for the jury and reducing and determining predisposition (Mulvaney &Little, 2015).
Review of Literature Continuation…..
More significantly, this is the first-time jurors meet the attorneys and hear information about the case to determine the juror's competence and see any prejudice or experience that will affect them from being impartial (Mulvaney & Little, 2015).
The historical background associated with the jury's development makes it possible to develop the best potential juries to deal with cases (Fox, 2020).
Review of Literature Continuation…..
Qualitative and quantitative use makes it possible to understand the study's statistical and descriptive data (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
The purpose of this systematic literature review is to examine existing research that evaluates the practices and strategies of voir dire and to determine the effectiveness of determining impartiality.
Review of Literature Continuation…..
The literature review covers; Historical Background of Juries, Evaluation of Jurors Suitability for Trial Evaluation, Dictating Jury Bias and The Impact of the Jury Selection Process on a Trial.
The literature has been instrumental in identifying the need to have a transparent and honest jury selection process. The main reason is that the jury selection process should provide the right decisions for the cases they handle (Fox, 2020).
Search Strategy: Three legal principles are instrumental in ensuring a fair criminal trial in society; presumption of innocence, standard of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the burden of proof.
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Review of Literature Continuation…..
This makes it possible for society to gain significant levels of hope in the operations of the different issues that they are exposed to at any given time (Rock, 2020).
With the presentation of historical developments associated with judgment using race and ethnic backgrounds, the chapter included the crucial role of having a just jury membership in the courtroom.
The historical developments associated with the establishment of juries in the United States are essential in evaluating attorneys' measures to identify a juror's impartibility.
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Review of Literature Continuation…..
Having the wrong decisions in the court system is a problem that will continue to affect the court system for the most extended period (Joy, 2015). It means that the United States citizens may lose significant trust in the court system's operations (Anderson, 2020). Such an issue may introduce biases and discrimination in the courtroom, influencing the unfair treatment of specific groups of individuals due to their vulnerability status (Binnall & Petersen, 2020).
Attributes of the Jury: The position of the court has the right to a jury trial. The statement means that the common law has been instrumental in undertaking trials through the use of juries. The measure of impartiality among the members of the jury may be measured through two-fold requirements. The first requirement includes selecting a petit jury from individuals who take representatives across communities
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Methodology & Research Design
In this study, I will use qualitative approach in systematic review of available literature to;
Explore what methods are used to select and evaluate juror's suitability to evaluate a trial.
Examine how the juror selection process appears to dictate jury prejudice, the measures used by attorneys to determine a juror's impartiality, the jury selection process's effectiveness to dictate jury prejudice, and how the juror selection process appears to affect trail outcomes.
The systematic literature review is a foundation of knowledge to identify inconsistencies, gaps in research, and open questions for further research by using credible and reliable sources
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Instruments for Study
To effectively identify the data results patterns and themes, data analysis will utilize the NVivo software program (see Appendix B). The program has been used for statistical analysis of qualitative and mixed research (Robins & Eisen, 2017).
The program is used for unstructured text, audio, video, and image data, including interviews, focus groups, surveys, social media, and journal articles. Therefore, the journal articles have to be grouped. The organization of these journal articles will help understand the cases, notes, queries, and visualizations. These classifications will help to identify the right patterns, themes, and data from the research. By using the NVivo program, the program can import, organize, and explore the sources (Robins & Eisen, 2017).
Nvivo Program in action – importing and organization of qualitative data
Instruments of Study Continuation….
Appendix A. Literature Review Matrix with Examples
| Author/ Date | Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework | Research Question(s)/ Hypotheses | Methodology | Analysis & Results | Conclusions | Implications for Future research | Implications For practice |
| (Robins & Eisen, 2017). | Literature Review and Article analysis | The use of NVivo to analyze qualitative data collected for the comprehensive review | Qualitative Research | Identification of the main themes in the qualitative Research analysis | It is a valid measure to imply the use of theoretical framework | It is a conclusive identification on the value of Nvivo and how it can be applied in future studies | Improves data analysis and usage with a comprehensive guidance for data analysis. |
| M. Williams, Tami Moser - 2019 | Mixed Research in data selection and analysis | identifying, defining, and describing the coding techniques available to researchers | Qualitative research analysis | Coding methods employ processes that reveal themes embedded in the data | Enabling data analysis and successive steps to serve the purpose of the study. | The future applications of coding are yet to be tapped by researchers in effective data analysis | It is imperative to focus and use coding since it helps to align the importance of data coding. |
| Parameswaran, U. D., Ozawa-Kirk, J. L., & Latendresse, G. (2020). | Data review and observation of already collected data | an alternative to coding with transcripts using a method called live coding | Focus groups and mixed research analysis | Live coding allowed the study and data analysis to see and hear the participants | coding can be beneficial in preserving the voice of the participant especially used within focus group data | Further study of live coding should include using digital tools for the analysis of qualitative data. | It is a good method for the identification of themes in the collected data. |
Population
This study targets juries to analyze how the juror selection process dictates jury prejudice, the measures used by attorneys to determine a juror's impartiality, the effectiveness of the jury selection process and how the jury selection process dictates jury prejudice, and how the juror selection process affect trial outcomes.
The researcher intends to use available internet in the library for peer-reviewed literature to access reputable academic databases.
A population is defined as a whole set of people, objects, or cases with some noticeable shared characteristics (Toro et al., 2020).
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Sample Selection
I will sample various information sources through census sampling method to ensure that all critical articles are reviewed.
This study focuses on a systematic literature review of the jury selection process.
All relevant information sources relating to the stated problem will be reviewed for themes, similarities, and comparison of the literature.
This will help me in narrowing down to a conclusion.
The sample size is defined as the number of items selected from the targeted population to comprise a sample (Schoemann et al., 2017).
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Validity of the study
In qualitative research such as this, validity heavily relies on the researcher/investigator, the methodological structure, and the process used, regarded as the research instruments and tools.
This study's validity significantly relies on the sources of information, i.e., articles, books, and other periodicals included in the systematic literature review; it also relies on the process used to synthesize, analyze, and interpret data.
Inclusion and exclusion measures helps to prevent incomplete, outdated, or insufficient data from being included in the review (Mohajan, 2017).
In quantitative research, validity is frequently referred to as the accurateness of the research tools, procedures, and data, Furthermore, in qualitative research, validity is concerned with; whether the research questions are appropriate for the anticipated outcome, whether the methodology applied is appropriate for the research questions, whether the design is compatible with the methodology, appropriateness of sample selection, and data analysis, and whether the final results and deductions are representative of the selected sample
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Reliability of the study
To ensure reliability of the process used in qualitative systematic review of literature, the researcher must account for individual bias that may influence findings, the researcher must acknowledge sampling bias and engage critical reflection of ongoing processes for sufficient, in depth and collection of relevant data (Noble, Scheinost, & Constable, 2019).
The researcher must also ensure careful record keeping, maintaining, and representing a specific decision trail besides ensuring that clarifications of data is transparent and consistent. Additionally, the researcher needs to ensure there is a well-established comparison on similarities and differences in all accounts, this ensures that all perspectives are represented.
While reliability refers to the extent to which research tools yield consistent and reliable data or results after repetitive trials in quantitative research, under qualitative research it is more of concerned with the consistency of analytical processes involved in examining available literature (Mohajan, 2017).
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Data Collection
In collecting data, I will use systematic review of literature and Internet searches for any article related to the jury selection process.
Articles collected and scrutinized must be those published from 2015-2020.
The articles from numerous sources will gather a comprehensive literature review; I plan to use the available internet library for peer-reviewed literature to access reputable academic databases.
In searching for the peer-reviewed articles, keywords search of reliable sources will give a comprehensive understanding of jury selection such as voir dire, jury selection, peremptory challenges, jury case trails, and jury impartiality.
The website is instrumental in providing relevant studies. For the search process, the study includes searching for some keywords. These keywords comprise jury selection; counsel members; Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution courtrooms; judges; deputy judge; lawyers; juror; attorneys; voir dire; Advance to the Counsel; Western District of Texas among others.
The article must have a clear structure with an abstract, research goals, methodology, findings/results, and discussion to verify that a source is peer reviewed.
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Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
I plan to review only information sources published from 2015-2020.
Additionally, any study that can answer the research question or have adequate statistical data or written in English languages will be considered.
Studies and articles which meet the exclusion conditions must not be considered under this study, any information source that cannot answer the research question or lacks statistical data, or written in languages other than English must be excluded.
Data Analysis
I will employ meta-synthesis, including a narrative review of the literature to synthesize, integrate, and analyze the data.
Each study's results will be read and re-read to make the researcher become immersed in the data (see Parameswaran, Ozawa-Kirk, & Latendresse, 2020).
Each article review search for information that relates to the precise questions this study seeks to answer.
Data considered based on their relevance and examined by noting the differences and similarities between them.
Data must be coded and annotated
Data coding refers to assigning a phrase or word which summarizes a segment of visual data or language-based (Williams & Moser, 2019). Data Coding helps to collect and classify data outside the theoretical framework. To achieve effective data analysis, the researcher must prepare and organize data, gather documents and all materials used in study, mark all sources and information collected which are helpful in analyzing the data.
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Data Analysis
To achieve effective data analysis, I will prepare and organize data, gather documents and all materials used in study, mark all sources and information collected which are helpful in analyzing the data.
I will review and explore all information to get a sense of what each implies and for proper comprehension and accurate presentation of ideas and thoughts.
Coding of data is important as it help to connect the information obtained and supports the identification of recurring opinions, language, beliefs and themes which are helpful in deriving a conclusion.
The audience for which the study is intended must be taken into consideration to ensure that themes and opinions are cohesively presented in a specific and clear manner
Data coding refers to assigning a phrase or word which summarizes a segment of visual data or language-based (Williams & Moser, 2019). Data Coding helps to collect and classify data outside the theoretical framework. To achieve effective data analysis, the researcher must prepare and organize data, gather documents and all materials used in study, mark all sources and information collected which are helpful in analyzing the data.
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Ethical Considerations
I will obtain all relevant permits to conduct the research; I will also obtain approvals in instances where prior approval is required for one to access information and ensure all ethical standards and guidelines in qualitative research are observed.
Since secondary data is going to be used, new sources of data must be re-identified, I will stick to confidentiality and non-disclosure of sensitive information and the use of such secondary must not result to their damage or distortion.
I have also put into consideration the unconscious bias resulting to generalization of ideas and thoughts and thus I have set clear criteria in advance for decision making and deriving conclusions.
Assumptions
There will be enough literature to allow a systematic review without any delays within jury selection articles' findings.
Limitations
This research focuses on peer-reviewed literature to provide enough accurate information to examine the research question. Due to this, the researcher is limited in access to which the information is gathered
Delimitations
This study is delimited to peer-review literature from 2015-2020 of publication of research articles.
There will be enough data to properly conclude and determine the effects and use of the voir dire process.
Data will show a racially divided jury's phenomenon into impartiality. Furthermore, this led to the assumption that the data would be significant to answer the research questions.
Qualitative methodology is the best approach for this research.
Q & A Session
Thank you!
