Survey of Handwriting Habit Areas Used by Forensic Document Examiners: Degree of Use and Discriminatory Power

In April 1998, a survey was distributed to Forensic Document Examiners (FDEs) requesting an evaluation of the habit areas used and their utility in distinguishing handwriting. The information obtained from this survey was intended to provide the data necessary to select a preliminary set of characteristics for analysis. It is important to use these relative rankings as an indication of general tendency and possible discriminatory dominance as compared to an absolute ranking of discriminatory dominance over the other habit areas. The particular circumstances surrounding the examination of handwriting can dictate a far different ordering of habit areas.