Common Language and Terminology

Researchers examining legal decision-making use a diverse yet sometimes overlapping vocabulary that varies across disciplines and research traditions. Terms such as juror, jury, mock jury, and deliberation are often operationalized differently depending on whether scholars are studying actual court processes, experimental simulations, or theoretical models.

The jury pool refers to the broad group of individuals drawn from sources such as voter registration lists or motor vehicle records who are eligible for jury service. From this pool, a venire, also known as the jury array, is summoned to appear for jury duty in a specific court and case; it represents the full population called to serve. Members of the venire undergo voir dire, a legal process in which the jurist or counsel for opposing parties question prospective jurors to assess their qualifications, impartiality, and capacity to serve. This process results in the selection of a smaller jury panel to hear a particular case, with additional individuals designated as alternates when necessary. While these definitions provide a guiding linguistic framework for describing the jury process, when taken together they describe the formation of the petite jury.

In the United States legal system, fact-finding authority may rest with a jury or a judge, depending on the trial structure. In a jury trial, lay citizens empaneled as jurors serve as the triers of fact: they evaluate evidence, assess witness credibility, and render a verdict. During a trial by jury, the judge presides over legal procedures and issues instructions to the jury to help them complete their task. A bench trial, by contrast, assigns both legal and factual determinations to the judge, who independently evaluates the evidence and issues the court’s findings of fact and conclusions of law. Although bench and jury trials differ instrumentally, both operate as formal mechanisms of fact-finding under the same substantive legal standards, examine the same burdens of proof, and make meaningful judicial assessments that present the comparison logic required to evaluate the decisions juries make.

Research on juries is typically conducted in simulated environments. Mock trials and mock juries serve as a vehicle for research surrounding how jurors make decisions. A mock juror is a research participant who evaluates simulated legal cases outside the context of an actual trial, enabling systematic examination of juror cognition and decision-making without the institutional constraints governing real jury deliberations.