OBJECTIVE Researcher-based degrees of freedom have been shown to contribute to low replication rates in science. That is, researchers' options within the process of designing and conducting empirical tests may increase the probability of false positive findings. The aim of this study was to transfer the concept of degrees of freedom to the practice of forensic-psychological assessment as it may likewise pose a severe threat to the reliability and validity of forensic assessments. Using an example from statement validity assessment, we identified degrees of freedom, calculated the different possible workflows that forensic experts can take, and elaborated on their consequences for the reliability and validity of their assessments. Importantly, we elaborated on why degrees of freedom likely not only increase noise in the results but also foster the occurrence of systematic biases in forensic practice. CONCLUSION Degrees of freedom in forensic-psychological assessments exist and lead to an enormous number of different possible workflows. As this threatens the interrater reliability and validity of forensic assessments and may lead to biases, we call for research on this issue and put forward recommendations for forensic practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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自由度是偏见的滋生地——对法医实践的威胁。


目的 基于研究人员的自由度已被证明会导致科学中的低重复率。也就是说，研究人员在设计和进行实证测试过程中的选择可能会增加假阳性结果的可能性。本研究的目的是将自由度的概念转移到法医心理评估的实践中，因为它同样可能对法医评估的可靠性和有效性构成严重威胁。使用陈述有效性评估的示例，我们确定了自由度，计算了法医专家可以采取的不同可能的工作流程，并详细说明了它们对其评估的可靠性和有效性的影响。重要的是，我们详细阐述了为什么自由度不仅可能增加结果中的噪音，而且还会促进法医实践中系统偏差的发生。结论 法医心理学评估存在自由度，并导致大量不同的可能工作流程。由于这威胁到法医评估的可靠性和有效性，并可能导致偏差，我们呼吁对此问题进行研究，并为法医实践提出建议。 （PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2024 APA，保留所有权利）。