Simply Forensic Reference Library

Error Rate

Quality, Validation & Reliability

Definition. A frequency of defined erroneous outcomes under specified study or operational conditions.

How the term is used

Meaningful error-rate estimates require clear outcome definitions and valid sampling of tasks, materials and decisions.

Forensic example

A black-box fingerprint study reports a false-positive decision rate for its test set.

Interpretation limitation

One error-rate estimate cannot automatically be generalized to all casework conditions.

References and further reading

NIST OSAC forensic terminology. The explanation and example are original educational summaries; consult the cited material and current laboratory guidance for authoritative application.

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