STATISTICS

Statistics on Deaths Reported to Coroners, England and Wales, In 2012

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the gender differences in the verdicts and the number of deaths reported to coroners between the years 2007 to 2011. To examine this difference, two independent assessors analyzed a randomly selected sample of 2,196 “Unclassified verdicts” that had been recorded between the years 2007 to 2011. The hypothesis of the study included the exploration of the assumption that the ratio of verdicts reported for males is not higher as compared to females. The results of the study concluded that the overall ratio of males was higher for both the verdicts and the number of deaths as compared to females. Moreover, the application of the Chi-Squared Test for Independent Samples indicated that the obtained p value was 0.0002, which is less than 0.05, thus suggesting that males have a statistically significant higher mean scores for the ratio of verdicts and the number of deaths, as compared to females.

Statistics on Deaths Reported to Coroners, England and Wales, In 2012

Introduction

In England and Wales, the coroners are responsible for submitting a statistical return to the Ministry of Justice, by the end of every year. These coroners are responsible for providing a detail of all of the “Unclassified verdicts” that they record in the form of a supplementary sheet, which is to be submitted as part of their annual retur (Ministry of Justice, 2013, pp. 10 - 34).

The aim of this study was to evaluate the gender differences in the verdicts and the number of deaths reported to coroners between the years 2007 to 2011. For this analysis, it was hypothesized that the ratio of verdicts reported for males is higher as compared to females. The null hypothesis of the study, on the other hand, was that the ratio of verdicts reported for males is not higher as compared to females. The research question of this study is an interesting, and an important aspect to examine as it investigates the reasons behind these gender differences, which can provide a better insight to these statistics.

Method Participants

The sample of the study was determined with the utilization of the stratified sampling technique, across various coroner districts. The size of this sample comprised of approximately 450 verdicts that were collected for each year between the years 2007 to 2011, which makes the total sample size of the study to be comprised of 2,196 verdicts.

Materials

With the use of random sampling, verdicts were selected which from the list of “Unclassified verdicts” that had been provided by each coroner's respective districts (See Appendices). The selected sample verdicts were later on examined for the gender differences.

Design

For analyzing the statistics related to deaths that are reported to coroners, the data was collected by two independent assessors, who for this study were two retired coroners. The Coroners categorized the mentioned verdicts on the basis of various factors which included their gender as well.

Procedure

With the completion of sampling, for the process of data analysis, a confidence interval ...