DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 1326 — Master Guide to False Positives in Forensic Testing

Forensic testing is widely assumed to deliver certainty, yet in professional appraisal and authentication it more often produces results that appear supportive without being exclusive. Positive scientific signals can feel decisive to clients, collectors, and markets, even when those signals are compatible with multiple periods, sources, or production methods. This misunderstanding is one of the most common pathways to overclaiming, report misuse, and institutional rejection once conclusions are examined more closely. Understanding false positives in forensic testing matters because recognizing the difference between compatibility and exclusivity prevents misattribution, constrains risk, and ensures scientific findings strengthen rather than undermine professional credibility.

DJR Expert Guide Series, Vol. 1326 gives you a complete, appraisal-forward, authentication-first, non-destructive framework for understanding and controlling false positives in forensic testing. Using disciplined threshold interpretation, evidence hierarchy integration, and liability-safe language standards—no guarantees, no confirmation bias, and no narrative expansion—you’ll learn the same professional methods experts use to prevent positive signals from being misrepresented as proof.

Inside this guide, you’ll learn how to:

• Define false positives in professional forensic and authentication terms

• Understand why false positives arise from overlap rather than error

• Distinguish compatibility from authentication conclusively

• Identify testing categories most vulnerable to false-positive outcomes

• Interpret probabilistic and statistical results responsibly

• Recognize how contamination and restoration distort signals

• Prevent confirmation bias in forensic interpretation

• Stress-test positive results against alternative explanations

• Integrate forensic findings within evidence hierarchy

• Apply precise report language aligned with method limits

• Manage client expectations around positive results

• Know when false-positive risk requires deferral or refusal

• Use a quick-glance checklist to control false-positive exposure

Whether you’re preparing authentication or appraisal reports, integrating laboratory results, evaluating high-risk claims, or protecting long-term professional credibility, this guide provides the structured framework professionals use to ensure forensic testing constrains conclusions rather than inflates them.

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