Comparison Microscopy
Definition
A technique in which known and questioned samples are viewed simultaneously through split or adjacent fields in a single instrument. Used in toolmark, hair, fibre, and firearms examination to assess class and individual features side by side.
Related terms
- Acquired Characteristics
- Individual characteristics that develop after manufacture through use, wear, damage, or corrosion. A new shoe has only class characteristics; a worn shoe...
- Class Characteristics
- Features deliberately or systematically imparted to a group of items by design or manufacture, such as the calibre of a bullet, the...
- Elimination Sample
- A known reference sample collected from someone who had legitimate access to a scene or item, used to separate their class and...
- Individual Characteristics
- Surface features on a fired bullet or cartridge case that arise from random or unique events (tool wear, corrosion, service damage) and...
- Source Attribution
- The inferential step of linking a trace to its donor. Serology identifies blood as human and potentially as a specific genetic type;...
Explained in
- Class versus Individual CharacteristicsA technique in which known and questioned samples are viewed simultaneously through split or adjacent fields in a single instrument. Used in toolmark, hair, fi...