Validating Conclusion Scales in the Forensic Sciences
The goal of this project is to calibrate the conclusions made by examiners in the forensic pattern disciplines and determine how expanded scales might be used by examiners. These expanded scales add precision to the determination made by examiners, but also may be misinterpreted by detectives, prosecutors, or the Court. In addition, definitive conclusions such as Identification have been interpreted by many members of the public to mean to the exclusion of all others, and many authors have suggested alternative language in the form of strength-of-evidence statements such as Strong Support for Common Source. The need to calibrate the language used for forensic conclusions was noted both by a subcommittee of the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) and the National Research Council of the National Academies.