Reliability of Evaluation of Handwriting Signs
Dr. Yury Chernov
IHS Institute for Handwriting Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
Dr. Marie Anne Nauer
IHS Institute for Handwriting Sciences, Zurich, Switzerland
DOI: 10.61246/ihs2/ycman037056
In Chernov, Y., & Nauer, M. A. (Eds.). (2023). Handwriting Research: Forensics & Legal. P. 37-56.
Abstract
Research and application areas related to handwriting, e.g. forensics, certain aspects of medical diagnostics, or handwriting psychology are based on the extraction of handwriting signs. Therefore, the reliability of their evaluation is essential for successful processing. Many authors have been investigating handwriting signs; just to mention some fundamental publications. The usage of digitizers and other registration sensors makes it possible to investigate not only the visible traces on the paper but as well, the invisible strokes, and in-the-air qualities. However, in practice, the experts are dealing mostly with offline documents, written a certain time ago, often years before the expertise.
Experts evaluate handwriting signs manually or with the help of computer programs for image processing. However, such programs still cover too few handwriting signs. Therefore, the manual procedure remains the major way for sign registration and analysis, and that is why the question of the reliability of a manual assessment is very important. Yet, explicit research on reliability is out of the focus of modern studies. In the current study, we are trying to fill this gap and present certain results of the corresponding experiment.