Initial questions
Facial comparison examination
For a review
These formulations are a starting point. Questions are refined according to the objects, available materials and the expert's competence.
How to identify the images being compared in a question
Before choosing a question, give the materials clear identifiers: photograph 1, photograph 2, recording A, a segment with specified timestamps. The question must make it clear which images are being compared. The wording “is this the same person” without a reference to the materials leaves both sides of the comparison undefined.
What to specify alongside the question
- Identifiers for the images being compared and the source of each file.
- The start and end times of the relevant segment if video is submitted.
- What is known about the provenance of the comparison photographs.
- Whether suitability must first be assessed or an existing report reviewed.
- Which materials are still missing or available only as copies.
Where several images are disputed, it is useful to list the required comparisons separately. An answer concerning one pair cannot automatically be extended to all the other photographs in the collection. If a person appears in several segments of a recording, their identifiers must also retain the link to the source file.
A question about suitability and a question about identity serve different purposes. The first establishes the potential of the submitted material for comparison; the second requires substantiation based on the available features. Knowing the name of the photograph's owner or a caption in a publication does not replace information about whom the image actually depicts.
For a review, specify the particular answer in the original report and the relevant pages. This helps select focused questions about quality, comparison materials and reasoning, while retaining the question bank's general questions to check the document's logic.