Sex estimation is important in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts for the construction of a biological profile, which might aid in the identification process in forensic cases or answer demographic questions in archaeological contexts. The os coxa is generally considered the best indicator of sex, given its reproductive functionality in females, although it is not always available for analysis, thus presenting a need for alternative methods of sex estimation. The present research aims to validate the previous study by Albanese (2013), which examined the use of the clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna. Albanese (2013) applied logistic regression analysis to the osteometric data and achieved allocation accuracies between 87.4% and 97.5%. A sample size of 400, comprised of American Whites and American Blacks from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, was utilized in the present study.
The present study applies both discriminant function analysis and logistic regression analysis to a total of 20 measurements collected from the clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna, including three variant measurements that were proposed by Albanese (2013), and a set discriminant functions and logistic regression equations were produced to classify individuals as male or female. Allocation accuracies as high as 100% were produced by the logistic regression equation that utilized all measurements. Discriminant analysis was applied to each of the bones individually, and the results indicated that the humerus exhibited the most sexual dimorphism and had the highest allocation accuracies (95.0% for males and 97.0% for females). Measurements that exhibited the greatest degree of sexual dimorphism were those representative of joint size such as the maximum diameter of the radial head, the vertical diameter of the humeral head, and the epicondylar breadth of the humerus. A set of equations were produced through discriminant function analysis, which are representative of various recovery scenarios and are meant to provide the examiner with sets of equations that might be applicable to a particular case. Because of its high allocation accuracies and its applicability to contemporary American White and Black populations, the methodology should be useful in forensic contexts within the United States.
Sex estimation is important in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts for the construction of a biological profile, which might aid in the identification process in forensic cases or answer demographic questions in archaeological contexts. The os coxa is generally considered the best indicator of sex, given its reproductive functionality in females, although it is not always available for analysis, thus presenting a need for alternative methods of sex estimation. The present research aims to validate the previous study by Albanese (2013), which examined the use of the clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna. Albanese (2013) applied logistic regression analysis to the osteometric data and achieved allocation accuracies between 87.4% and 97.5%. A sample size of 400, comprised of American Whites and American Blacks from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, was utilized in the present study.
The present study applies both discriminant function analysis and logistic regression analysis to a total of 20 measurements collected from the clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna, including three variant measurements that were proposed by Albanese (2013), and a set discriminant functions and logistic regression equations were produced to classify individuals as male or female. Allocation accuracies as high as 100% were produced by the logistic regression equation that utilized all measurements. Discriminant analysis was applied to each of the bones individually, and the results indicated that the humerus exhibited the most sexual dimorphism and had the highest allocation accuracies (95.0% for males and 97.0% for females). Measurements that exhibited the greatest degree of sexual dimorphism were those representative of joint size such as the maximum diameter of the radial head, the vertical diameter of the humeral head, and the epicondylar breadth of the humerus. A set of equations were produced through discriminant function analysis, which are representative of various recovery scenarios and are meant to provide the examiner with sets of equations that might be applicable to a particular case. Because of its high allocation accuracies and its applicability to contemporary American White and Black populations, the methodology should be useful in forensic contexts within the United States.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bu.edu/oai:open.bu.edu:2144/16243 |
| Date | 08 April 2016 |
| Creators | Kearns, Aisling |
| Source Sets | Boston University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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