Response to “A study of the perception of verbal expressions of the strength of evidence”

Abstract

We would like to respond to the recent paper “Understanding forensic expert evaluative evidence: A study of the perception of verbal expressions of the strength of evidence”, by Arscott et al.. We agree that a verbal expression of the strength of evidence can be interpreted in varying ways. Not only by the people that read them, but also by those that express them. It is also possible that different verbal expressions are interpreted in the same way by different readers or reporting scientists. This is the reason that the Association of Forensic Science Providers (AFSP) and the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes (ENFSI) have published guidelines that call for forensic institutes to provide verbal scales and numerically define the verbal expressions therein. This, at least formally, solves the issue of the perception of intended strength of evidence.