Virtual jury research is a technique used by lawyers to prepare for trial. For many decades, attorneys have employed

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

consultants to conduct

jury research Jury or juror research is an umbrella term for the use of research methods in an attempt to gain some understanding of the juror experience in the courtroom and how jurors individually and collectively come to a determination about the guilt or oth ...

to help prepare for trial. The goals of such research vary: to assess the case and to discover its primary

juror A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence, make Question of fact, findings of fact, and render an impartiality, impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a sentence (law), penalty or Judgmen ...

-defined issues; to help plan the case presentation; to develop the trial theme that will resonate most strongly with jurors; and, of course, to determine with the maximum degree of probability the most likely

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

outcome. Jury research is similar to the test marketing of products that companies conduct before they introduce them commercially. Jury consultants utilize numerous tools and techniques to assist attorneys with this research. These include jury

focus groups A focus group is a group interview involving a small number (sometimes up to ten) of demographically predefined participants. Their reactions to specific researcher/evaluator-posed questions are studied. Focus groups are used in market research ...

and jury simulations (

mock trial A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisti ...

s) involving surrogate (mock) jurors;

venue A venue is the location at which an event takes place. It may refer to: Locations * Venue (law), the place a case is heard * Financial trading venue, a place or system where financial transactions can occur * Music venue, place used for a conce ...

studies, including phone and other surveys to determine community attitudes regarding an upcoming trial;

witness In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know. A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...

preparations; and more. Jury research is useful not only for trials but also for

litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...

disputes of all types, including those with outcomes that will be determined through ADR (alternative dispute resolution methodologies such as

arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...

mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...

, or

negotiations Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more parties to resolve points of difference, gain an advantage for an individual or Collective bargaining, collective, or craft outcomes to satisfy various interests. The parties aspire to agree on m ...

Methodology

Virtual jury research is based on the concept of

synchronous conferencing Online chat is any direct text-, audio- or video-based (webcams), one-on-one or one-to-many ( group) chat (formally also known as synchronous conferencing), using tools such as instant messengers, Internet Relay Chat (IRC), talkers and possib ...

, also known as

computer-mediated communication Computer-mediated communication (CMC) is defined as any human communication that occurs through the use of two or more electronic devices. While the term has traditionally referred to those communications that occur via computer-mediated forma ...

. Like

Internet Relay Chat IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for Many-to-many, group communication in discussion forums, called ''#Channels, channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via instant mess ...

(

IRC IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called '' channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat ...

), all communication between participants during a virtual jury research study take place in real time. Attorneys access the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

from their own PCs to participate in the virtual jury research sessions. They are joined by virtual research jurors (mock jurors) who have been selected so that their individual profiles match key criteria that support the case study’s particular design objectives.

Online jury research

In addition to conventional jury research, attorneys in recent years have been able to conduct

online In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity, and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed as "on lin ...

jury focus group testing over the

. Online jury research, known as "virtual jury research", features the same type of empirically valid research data concerning juror decision-making that conventional jury research provides. One of the first people to develop this technology were trial consultants Adrienne LeFevre and Teresa Rosado. They formed OnlineVerdict.com and have since become nationally known for their technology and advances in online research.

Online focus group "room"

For virtual jury research, the focus group "room" (or

chatroom The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from ...

) where the virtual jurors, attorneys, and jury consultants interact is a special computer screen window that all can access. There, the research jurors are presented with specific questions designed to gauge their attitudes and concerns regarding the case being studied. They type in their responses to these questions, which are immediately viewable by all participants.

Results

Through this carefully planned and conducted online jury research process, attorneys and jury consultants are able to spotlight the key trial issues the online research jurors consider most important; and to then determine with the maximum degree of available certainty how these issues should be presented during the upcoming trial to achieve

courtroom A courtroom is the enclosed space in which courts of law are held in front of a judge. A number of courtrooms, which may also be known as "courts", may be housed in a courthouse. In recent years, courtrooms have been equipped with audiovisual ...

success. Findings can be used to forecast jury verdicts; detect possible juror bias; evaluate demonstrative aids; plan trial strategy, and so on.

Comparison to standardized jury research

Virtual jury research provides identical benefits to standardized jury research, while featuring numerous additional advantages, including more economical costs. The primary benefit, by far, is quick case study results. A customary jury research session often takes weeks to organize and administer. But with virtual jury research which benefits from the availability online of literally millions of potential case study participants—research jurors can quickly be located and solicited to participate, which they can do so effortlessly via their home computers. As a result, online studies can be organized, conducted, concluded, and evaluated within a few hours. This quick turnaround can be invaluable for attorneys who must quickly strategize regarding sudden new cases that must quickly go to trial.

"Stratified" sampling

Like any other scientific study, the validity of jury research results is based on the quality of the scientific sample, in this case the actual research jurors who are being studied. For online jury research, this means that the individual characteristics of the virtual jurors who participate in the jury study should match as closely as possible with those of a hypothetical "ideal" juror for a particular case. In most jury research, these characteristics segment according to the following criteria:

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of human populations: their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examin ...

, personality, attitudes, beliefs and life experience. Choosing research jurors on the basis of these individual characteristics is known as "stratified" sampling.

"Random" sampling and "representative" sampling

In standardized jury research, which draws on a pool of research jurors who are limited to a single

, quickly locating and securing the services of jurors with such ideal characteristics can be a daunting if not impossible task. This is why standardized jury research often is conducted instead on the basis of "random" sampling (based on lists derived through

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...

driver license A driver's license, driving licence, or driving permit is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, car ...

applications, and so on); or through "representative" sampling (based only on demographic characteristics—age,

ethnicity An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they Collective consciousness, collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, ...

, sex, and so on). However, these much less refined methodologies do not present the same type of scientifically valid and meaningful research results that can be achieved through stratified sampling. But with the Internet, and its hundreds of millions of users worldwide, stratified sampling is not a problem; hence the value of virtual jury research in comparison to more standardized formats.

External links

"Is the Time Right For Online Jury Research" " The Jury Expert"

* [http://www.qualitative-research.net/fqs-texte/1-00/1-00rezabek-e.htm "Online Focus Groups: Electronic Discussions for Research," ''Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research'']
"Online Focus Groups Save Time, Money," ''Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal''

Comprehensive "Litigation Research Guide" available at no charge

* ttp://www.dmoz.org/Society/Law/Services/Litigation_Support/ List of litigation research firms
Voir dire simulation by American Bar Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virtual Jury Research Civil procedure