Evidence encyclopedia topics

Burden of Proof

Contemporary concepts about evidence revolve largely around the Burden of Proof Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

In Science: the Burden of Proof is on the presenter of a Thesis paper, in which the presenter of a specific argument is to present a paper of findings. This paper is then placed before a panel of judges where the presenter must defend the Thesis against all challenges.

In the court of law: the Burden of Proof is placed on the Prosecution. Prosecution presents a suit of charges with which to accuse another party. Defense, representing the accused, must make a plea about the truth of the accusation. Before trial is adjourned, the Jury must render a verdict of guilty or not guilty based on each individual charge.

Evidence in science

In scientific research evidence is accumulated through observations of phenomena that occur in the natural world, or which are created as experiments in a laboratory. Scientific evidence usually goes towards supporting or rejecting a hypothesis. When evidence is contradictory to predicted expectations, the evidence and the ways of making it are often closely scrutinized (see experimenter's regress) and only at the end of this process the hypothesis is rejected: this can be referred to as 'refutation of the hypothesis'. The rules for evidence used by science are collected systematically in an attempt to avoid the bias inherent to anecdotal evidence: nonetheless even anecdotal evidence is enough to reject a theory incompatible with that evidence, if there are sufficient repeated examples.

Evidence in criminal investigation

In criminal investigation, rather than attempting to prove an abstract or hypothetical point, the evidence gatherers are attempting to determine who is responsible for a criminal act. The focus of criminal evidence is to connect physical evidence and reports of witnesses to a specific person.

Evidence in Software

Evidence is a way of uniquely identifying a version of software.

Evidence in law

Legal evidence differs from the above in the tight rules governing the presentation of facts that tend to prove or disprove the point at issue. In law, certain policies require that evidence that tends to prove or disprove an assertion or fact must nevertheless be excluded from consideration based either on indicia relating to reliability, or on broader social concerns. Testimony (which tells) and exhibits (which show) are the two main categories of evidence presented at a trial or hearing. In federal court, evidence is admitted or excluded under the Federal Rules of Evidence.