Estimation of stature and sex from foot print length using regression formulae and standard foot print length formula respectively

摘要

Height and sex from different parts of the body help in solving crime mysteries related tohuman identity. Similarly, foot or shoe prints if present at the scene of crime may provide clueregarding the height and the sex of the person that helps in establishing partial identity of thesuspect.In the present study, an attempt has been made to derive regression formulae todetermine height from foot print length in both sexes individually as well as for the combined data(males and females). An attempt was also made to determine the sex using the statisticallyderived standard foot print length as a benchmark.Foot prints of 200 subjects (100 males and 100 females), from among the college-goingstudents of Mangalore, Karnataka, India were studied. Maximum foot print length and the heightof each subject was measured. Predictive equations using linear regression were then derivedseparately for males, females and for the combined data with the purpose of estimating the heightwhen only the subject’s foot print length is known. The standard foot print length (obtained fromthe statistically derived standard foot print length formula) was used as a benchmark to estimatethe sex of the individual.Thus, in the present study, correlation coefficient (r) of 0.698 in males, 0.738 in femalesand 0.848 in the combined data was obtained between the height and foot print length of thesubjects. The standard error of estimate was 4.66 in males, 4.528 in females and 4.778 in thecombined data. The standard foot print length obtained was 23.55 cms. The accuracy of sexdetermination by this method is reported to be 80%.