A Method of Statistical Evaluation of Handwriting Characteristics Developed in Russia

Document experts providing the examination of handwriting evaluate the individual characteristics according to their own experience. Deciding which characteristics are more significant presents difficulty to the examiners with limited experience.
A methodology developed in Russia is intended to assist document examiners in the stage of evaluation of similarities and differences in the handwriting. It employs tables of statistical frequency of individual characteristics derived from examination of representative handwriting samples in Russian. Although this method of evaluation of individual characteristics in the handwriting cannot substitute for personal experience of the document examiner, the values assigned to characteristics based on statistical probability of their occurrence help the examiner to evaluate significance of these characteristics. Moreover, it helps to visually illustrate the process of identification and justify the conclusion in courts.