A Statistical Examination of Selected Handwriting Characteristics

Abstract

Abstract The handwriting identification facet of questioned document examination suffers from the lack of statistical data concerning the frequency of occurrence of combinations of particular handwriting characteristics. While document examiners tend to assign probative values to specific handwriting characteristics and their combinations, judgments are often based almost entirely on the examiner's experience and power of recall. Since handwriting identification is a scientific pursuit, statistical data concerning frequency of occurrence of forms and combinations would seem to offer some promise for providing a basis for the opinions of document examiners.