How Much Do You Know About Forensic Science?

By: Torrance Grey
Estimated Completion Time
4 min
How Much Do You Know About Forensic Science?
Image: shutterstock

About This Quiz

Forensic science -- or "forensics" for short -- has fascinated fiction writers since, at least, the time of Arthur Conan Doyle, when the 19th-century doctor-turned-writer had his protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, use forensic methods to solve crimes. But how much of what you've seen on the screen is realistic?

Forensics has become even more popular in recent decades, giving us the novels of Patricia Cornwell and television shows like "CSI." However, real-life forensic scientists (FYI, they hate being called "techs"!) say that these TV shows greatly exaggerate the ease and speed with which they do their work (and, probably, the drama of their love lives!)

Although real-life forensic science isn't nearly as sexy as TV and the movies makes it appear, it's also a much broader field than you might realize. It involves a lot more than fingerprints and DNA analysis (to name that two best-known sub-disciplines). Branches of forensic science include handwriting and document analysis, examination of video recordings or digital/computer evidence, and toxicology (the study of drugs and poisons). There's an entire branch dedicated to blood spatter alone!

Whether you're a fan of "CSI"-style TV shows and movies, or you once considered pursuing a branch of criminalistics as a career, we've got a quiz to challenge you. Do you know what kind of technician would study "metadata"? Or in what kind of crime scene you'd find a "void area"? Duck under the yellow tape and put your knowledge to the test!

Blood typing was an early form of forensic science. How many human blood types are there?
Three
Four
Eight
Too many to count
Which of these prefixes means "relating to blood"?
Allo-
Hema-
Naturo-
Soma-
Which of these is not an important figure in early forensic science?
Alphonse Bertillon
Francis Galton
Sir William Herschel
Arthur Conan Doyle

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Modern DNA analysis, known as the PCR-STR process, has been around since the _______.
1940s
1970s
1980s
2000s
What part of the body do investigators commonly swab to get a DNA sample?
The cheek
The inner ear
The scalp
The wrist
After death, the human body takes on a stiffness called what?
Ataxia
Arthritia
Rigor mortis
Stasis

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When a suspect is not available in person, what might be tested for DNA instead?
Their pen or pencil
A household surface
The milk carton in their fridge
Their toothbrush
Which of these cells does not contain DNA?
Hair follicles
Skin
Sweat
Urine
Which of these is a NOT a field within forensic science?
Tire-track analysis
Ballistics
Blood-spatter analysis
IQ testing

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Which of the following do identical twins NOT share?
Autosomal DNA
Fingerprints
Mitochondrial DNA
Blood type
A test result that is not certain enough to be useful to an investigation is called _______.
Unfortunate
Inconclusive
Invalid
Semi-valid
After death, blood pools at the lowest points of the body. What is this called?
Erthyemia
Hematic migration
Livor mortis
Gravity

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Fingerprints that are not visible to the naked eye are called _____ prints.
Hidden
Latent
Invisible
Wispy
Probably the best-known detector of bloodstains not visible to the eye is a substance called ________.
Warfarin
Luminol
Ninhydrin
Resolve
True or false: DNA testing can't determine whether someone is a parent or sibling of an individual involved in a crime.
True
False

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In addition to fingerprints, which of these can be used to identify a person?
Ear prints
Footprints
Palm prints
Any of these
What might a "void area" tell a specialist in blood spatter?
The victim's blood type
Whether the killer was injured
The positions of the victim and killer
The killer's blood type
DNA derived only from the mother is called _______ DNA.
Alluvial
Maternal
Mitochondrial
X-

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What is a "control sample?"
An sample of generous size
A sample from a criminal suspect
A sample from a known source
A sample that's been kept in controlled climate conditions
Investigators study "lands and grooves" in what branch of forensics?
Autopsy
Firearms analysis
Handwriting analysis
Digital forensics
"Bertillonage" was a system of identifying suspects by measuring their ________.
Body parts
IQ
Hair length
Psychological health

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What is the "chain of custody"?
Documentation of who had the evidence at every stage of the investigation
The stages of analysis that biological evidence undergoes
The route a body takes to the morgue
The shackles a suspect is kept in
Why doesn't it help criminals to damage/scar their fingertips in order not to leave identifiable fingerprints?
The skin has acids that are uniquely identifiable.
The skin heals in the same unique pattern.
If the skin doesn't heal, the damage is usually unique to also be identifiable.
Either #2 or #3
Which of these is not a characteristic of a fingerprint?
Arch
Loop
Moue
Whorl

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An "exemplar" would be requested by an expert in what?
Handwriting
Explosives
Fingerprints
Blood spatter
Pieces of evidence that are tiny, or almost microscopic, are called _____ evidence.
Unusable
Minute
Miniature
Trace
From whom would "elimination fingerprints" be taken?
Jurors
The victim
A suspect
Anyone who had recent access to the scene, including police personnel

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What is "transient evidence"?
Evidence left by a homeless person
Evidence that won't last long without protective measures
Evidence in a trial that is about to begin
Evidence that is so small as to be microscopic
What is "CSI effect"?
The drop in crime due to criminals fearing being caught through forensics
The flood of students joining forensic-science programs since the advent of TV shows about it
The tendency of jurors to overestimate the infallibility of forensic evidence
The drop in crime on nights when everyone is home watching "CSI"
The mixing up of other material (genetic, biological or otherwise) with an evidence sample is called _______.
Contamination
Involvement
Machination
Tampering

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Which of these can undermine the reliability/value of forensic evidence?
Limited resources
Human error
Deliberate tampering
All of these
In digital forensics, what is metadata?
Data known to everyone
Data relevant to a specific criminal case
External or "envelope" information
Data that does not actually exist
The process in which bodies and other organic materials break down after death is called ________.
Composition
Decomposition
Deconstruction
Gross

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Where is America's most famous "body farm" (where human decomposition in studied) located?
La Jolla, Calif.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Lovelock, Nev.
Boston, Mass.
Which of these branches of forensic science has become much more important in the last decade or so?
Blood spatter analysis
Fiber analysis
Handwriting analysis
Video analysis