Why Forensic Pathologists Maintain Uncertainty in Reporting Causes of Death: How Communicative Uncertainty Devices Shape Reasoning

This paper examines how forensic pathologists in Sweden understand and reason around how to communicate the un/certainty of cause of death, given their position to other actors. The paper explores uncertainty work related to the understanding and reasoning on how to use a degree of certainty scale. To define the scale, I introduce the concept of communicative uncertainty device, a concept which can stimulate new questions and comparisons across domains. I outline conservative and liberal approaches to reporting certainty and how dependency on the police for circumstantial information maintains communication of uncertainty. The risk of being called to court gives careful formulation of un/certainty weight, but collegial reviewing shapes more precisely what to write.