Chapter 1 Self-Check Quiz

Twenty questions. Answer before opening the key at the bottom. Aim to explain why, not just pick a letter.

Multiple choice

1. Forensic science is best defined as: a) the science of catching criminals; b) the application of scientific methods to questions a court must answer; c) the study of crime scenes; d) a branch of law enforcement.

2. Criminalistics refers specifically to: a) all of forensic science; b) the legal argument at trial; c) the recognition, collection, and comparison of physical evidence; d) criminal psychology.

3. A sole's herringbone tread pattern shared by thousands of identical shoes is a: a) individual characteristic; b) class characteristic; c) random match; d) confirmatory result.

4. The accidental nicks and wear that make one worn shoe distinguishable are: a) class characteristics; b) presumptive features; c) individual characteristics; d) exclusions.

5. Outside of quantified DNA, the absolute claim of individualization is problematic mainly because: a) juries dislike it; b) it is illegal; c) the uniqueness it asserts is an assumption, not a demonstrated finding; d) it takes too long.

6. The 2009 NAS report concluded that, apart from nuclear DNA, most forensic methods: a) were completely worthless; b) had not been rigorously validated to connect evidence to a specific source; c) should be banned; d) were more reliable than DNA.

7. The 2016 PCAST report focused on whether feature-comparison methods have: a) general acceptance; b) foundational validity with a known error rate; c) good public relations; d) courtroom admissibility.

8. The CSI effect can cause a jury to: a) only acquit; b) only convict; c) both demand impossible certainty and over-trust weak evidence; d) ignore all forensic evidence.

9. Which statement is an exclusion? a) "consistent with the suspect"; b) "cannot be excluded"; c) "the profiles differ at six loci, so the suspect is not the source"; d) "a strong association."

10. The honest verbs for forensic comparison, weakest-supporting to strongest, are: a) proves, matches, identifies; b) exclude, consistent with, strongly supports; c) consistent with, proves, matches; d) suggests, proves, confirms.

11. Forensic odontology is reliable for __ and unreliable for ____: a) bite marks / body identification; b) body identification from dental records / bite-mark matching; c) DNA / fingerprints; d) neither / both.

12. "The method has a published error rate" should be read as: a) a damaging admission of unreliability; b) a sign the method has been studied and is being honest; c) irrelevant; d) proof the method is invalid.

13. The strongest, cleanest thing forensic science often says is: a) "it's a match"; b) "to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty"; c) an exclusion — "not this person"; d) "the defendant is guilty."

14. A physical (fracture) match of two torn pieces of tape is: a) a weak class characteristic; b) one of the strongest individual associations — but of the objects, not the person; c) meaningless; d) a presumptive test.

15. The chapter's recommended response to the CSI effect is: a) cynicism about all forensics; b) trusting experts completely; c) calibration — asking what kind of evidence, how strong, and how we know; d) ignoring juries.

Short answer

16. Explain in two sentences why a non-match can be conclusive while a match usually needs a probability.

17. Give one reason the absence of forensic evidence at a real crime scene is unsurprising.

18. State the difference between the sentences "the print is the defendant's" and "the print is consistent with the defendant," and why it matters in court.

19. Name the book's four learning paths.

20. What is the one-sentence question written at the top of the Cold Case file in Chapter 1?