ABSTRACT
Once a forensic investigation has been performed given the best available data, there is always a measure of uncertainty of some of the parameters. For example, the coefficient of friction in an accident reconstruction is never exactly known, but rather it is estimated. It may be important to know how sensitive some of the parameters are to change, which may affect the equations that are used in the reconstruction. As an example, it is known that T-bone collisions are not very sensitive to preimpact angles and that collinear collisions are quite sensitive to these angles. Parametric analysis, the variation of a parameter from a known or estimated central value, allows for the sensitivity and uncertainty to be quantified. It is always important to perform these calculations because all of the parameters are not exactly known, and the models used in the reconstruction cannot be entirely accurate. From a theoretical standpoint, we will define sensitivity and uncertainty in this chapter and see how they apply in forensic engineering.
