Trevor Bond

A Methodist minister, a mysterious Frenchwoman, a solicitor, a brace of housekeepers, and a recently discharged soldier: what links them? Being accused of murder by poison. Poisoning represents the ultimate domestic murder. Many alleged crimes - the death of Edwin Bartlett, the fate of Mabel Greenwood - remain notorious to this day. Others, such as the mysterious case of James Gilpin and his apparently tragic taste for cheese, and the curious fate of the Bingham family, have passed into obscurity. The author is the first person to track down the accused in the very first murder described (1827) - Sir Walter Scott, when he heard 'the poisoning woman' was acquitted, coined the phrase 'the bastard verdict'. Drawing on extensive research in primary sources, this book examines a dozen infamous and less well-known alleged poisonings, and also examines what happens when you are set free to leave court, but the public will not allow you to forget your supposed murderous deeds. There is something peculiarly ghastly abut poisoning: somehow the knife or the gun hold the higher moral ground. As the ghost tells Hamlet: Murder most foul, as in the best it is, But this most foul, strange and unnatural.

Recognised as the most influential publication in the field, ARM facilitates deep understanding of the Rasch model and its practical applications. The authors review the crucial properties of the model and demonstrate its use with examples across the human sciences. Readers will be able to understand and critically evaluate Rasch measurement research, perform their own Rasch analyses and interpret their results. The glossary and illustrations support that understanding, and the accessible approach means that it is ideal for readers without a mathematical background. Highlights of the new edition include: More learning tools to strengthen readers’ understanding including chapter introductions, boldfaced key terms, chapter summaries, activities and suggested readings. Greater emphasis on the use of R packages; readers can download the R code from the Routledge website. Explores the distinction between numerical values, quantity and units, to understand the measurement and the role of the Rasch logit scale (Chapter 4). A new four-option data set from the IASQ (Instrumental Attitude towards Self-assessment Questionnaire) for the Rating Scale Model (RSM) analysis exemplar (Chapter 6). Clarifies the relationship between Rasch measurement, path analysis and SEM, with a host of new examples of Rasch measurement applied across health sciences, education and psychology (Chapter 10). Intended as a text for graduate courses in measurement, item response theory, (advanced) research methods or quantitative analysis taught in psychology, education, human development, business, and other social and health sciences. Professionals in these areas will also appreciate the book’s accessible introduction.

Recognised as the most influential publication in the field, ARM facilitates deep understanding of the Rasch model and its practical applications. The authors review the crucial properties of the model and demonstrate its use with examples across the human sciences. Readers will be able to understand and critically evaluate Rasch measurement research, perform their own Rasch analyses and interpret their results. The glossary and illustrations support that understanding, and the accessible approach means that it is ideal for readers without a mathematical background. Highlights of the new edition include: More learning tools to strengthen readers’ understanding including chapter introductions, boldfaced key terms, chapter summaries, activities and suggested readings. Greater emphasis on the use of R packages; readers can download the R code from the Routledge website. Explores the distinction between numerical values, quantity and units, to understand the measurement and the role of the Rasch logit scale (Chapter 4). A new four-option data set from the IASQ (Instrumental Attitude towards Self-assessment Questionnaire) for the Rating Scale Model (RSM) analysis exemplar (Chapter 6). Clarifies the relationship between Rasch measurement, path analysis and SEM, with a host of new examples of Rasch measurement applied across health sciences, education and psychology (Chapter 10). Intended as a text for graduate courses in measurement, item response theory, (advanced) research methods or quantitative analysis taught in psychology, education, human development, business, and other social and health sciences. Professionals in these areas will also appreciate the book’s accessible introduction.

Few things are more evocative of Victorian Britain than its criminals; they are, together with railways, gas lamps and swirling fog, vital ingredients in any Victorian melodrama. The truth, however, was often stranger, more thrilling and more horrifying than fiction. In this book, four eminent crime historians reveal the realities of this aspect of Victorian life, illuminating not just the criminals and their victims, but also the policemen, forensic scientists and others who rubbed shoulders with the nineteenth-century underworld. Notorious crimes – the Road Hill Murder, the Balham Mystery and Jack the Ripper – stand alongside long-forgotten, neglected cases; the most shocking and terrifying cases appear next to everyday horrors, some stunning and some merely sad. This unique work of reference deserves a place on every true crime reader’s bookshelf.