Difficulties of Statistical Interpretation of Case Records of Delinquency and Crime

The scientific value of case records has been dicredited on the ground that the paucity of records prevents their reliable statistical use. Moreover, the statistical units extracted from the records have no meaning apart from their context. As illustrations of individual life-patterns and situations they have value as contributions to an understanding of life. If a given set of cases were identical in their component elements, a complete, accurate description of one would give as much as would statistical generalizations concerning the total number. In a number of cases, major aspects, likenesses, and differences might be distilled from a mass of irrelevant detail and the conclusions reduced to a statistical basis. But a careful scrutiny of records would be necessary to reveal qualitative as well as quantitative differences and make prediction valid

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