USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

Logical conclusions from pattern analysis: Matches, non-matches and exclusions.

SelectedWorks Author Profiles:

Max M. Houck

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1992

ISSN

0008-5030

Abstract

Most forensic scientists, especially tool mark examiners, agree that what constitutes a match, non-match or exclusion between two compared specimens is largely dependent upon the criteria chosen by each individual examiner. No rigid evaluative or statistical standards exist. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that researchers disagree as to the conclusions that can be drawn from physical comparisons. The logical underpinnings of this type of decision are presented and the allowable conclusions discussed. An argument will be presented which supports the exclusion of specimens based upon the comparison of individual characteristics. Although tool marks will be used as examples, to simplify production/source variables, this information applies to any comparison methodology.

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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