1 | Page
WVU FIS 201 FINAL Questions and
Answers
Forensic
Ans: Forum: place of debate
Court of law
Science
Ans: Method of study used to empirically understand and describe the
physical universe
Fallibilism
Ans: Awareness that there could be alternative explanations
17th & 18th Century
Ans: Medicine
19th Century
Ans: Medicine, chemistry, law, photography
20th Century
Ans: Microscopy, fingerprints, pathology, chemistry, etc...
Alexander Lacassagne
Ans: - professor of forensic medicine @ Lyon university
- wide ranging interests: decomposition, ballistics, bloodstains
- advocated that society, not heredity, was responsible for crime
Dr. Joseph Bell
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, 2 | Page
Ans: - medical lecturer
- "observe carefully, deduce shrewdly, and confirm with evidence
- Inspo. for Sherlock Holmes
Hans Gross
Ans: - introduced the word and concept of Kriminalistik
- how can science help investigators?
- 1912: founded institute of criminalistics
Pathology (death investigation)
Ans: the body and damage to it
Anthropology
Ans: Skeletal Identification
Odontology
Ans: definition and bite marks
Entomology
Ans: insects on body
Pathology ( biological science)
Ans: trauma to the body
serology
Ans: body fluid identification
DNA analysis
Ans: identification based on genetics
Criminalistics
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Ans: shoe prints, fingerprints, blood spatter, firearms, hairs, fibers,
paint, glass, soil, questioned documents: handwriting
Forensic chemistry
Ans: Drug identification, toxicology, arson and explosives, questioned
documents: ink/paper, trace evidence: paint/glass/hairs/fibers
Digital forensics
Ans: recovery, video imaging enhancing, speaker identification,
biometrics
Crimonology
Ans: - application of psychology and sociology
- tries to explain the causes of crime
- studies optimum policing and common its response to crime
The crime lab
Ans: - scientific lab where crime scene evidence is analyzed prior to any
court room
- federal, state, county, municipal
WV state police forensic lab
Ans: drug identification, toxicology, trace evidence, biochemistry, latent
prints, firearm/tool mark, questioned documents
Criminal Trials
Ans: the location where the crime occurred is the jurisdiction, which has
a set of laws
Civil trials
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, 4 | Page
Ans: - citizen vs citizen
- plantiff vs respondent
- offense is a "tort"
- balance of evidence
Criminal trials
Ans: - government vs citizen
- prosecutor and defendant
- offense is a "felony" or "misdemeanor"
- beyond a reasonable doubt
Pathologist
Ans: - determine cause of disease or trauma based on appearance and
chemistry of bodies or tissues
Medical Examiner
Ans: - appointed by jurisdiction
- must be MD
Coroner
Ans: - elected by jurisdiction
Death investigator
Ans: - investigate deaths under the jurisdiction of the coroner/ medical
examiner
- collect scene context needed to determine cause of death
Pathologist assistant
Ans: - does everything a pathologists does EXCEPT sign the death
certificate
Manner of death
© 2025 All rights reserved
WVU FIS 201 FINAL Questions and
Answers
Forensic
Ans: Forum: place of debate
Court of law
Science
Ans: Method of study used to empirically understand and describe the
physical universe
Fallibilism
Ans: Awareness that there could be alternative explanations
17th & 18th Century
Ans: Medicine
19th Century
Ans: Medicine, chemistry, law, photography
20th Century
Ans: Microscopy, fingerprints, pathology, chemistry, etc...
Alexander Lacassagne
Ans: - professor of forensic medicine @ Lyon university
- wide ranging interests: decomposition, ballistics, bloodstains
- advocated that society, not heredity, was responsible for crime
Dr. Joseph Bell
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
Ans: - medical lecturer
- "observe carefully, deduce shrewdly, and confirm with evidence
- Inspo. for Sherlock Holmes
Hans Gross
Ans: - introduced the word and concept of Kriminalistik
- how can science help investigators?
- 1912: founded institute of criminalistics
Pathology (death investigation)
Ans: the body and damage to it
Anthropology
Ans: Skeletal Identification
Odontology
Ans: definition and bite marks
Entomology
Ans: insects on body
Pathology ( biological science)
Ans: trauma to the body
serology
Ans: body fluid identification
DNA analysis
Ans: identification based on genetics
Criminalistics
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Ans: shoe prints, fingerprints, blood spatter, firearms, hairs, fibers,
paint, glass, soil, questioned documents: handwriting
Forensic chemistry
Ans: Drug identification, toxicology, arson and explosives, questioned
documents: ink/paper, trace evidence: paint/glass/hairs/fibers
Digital forensics
Ans: recovery, video imaging enhancing, speaker identification,
biometrics
Crimonology
Ans: - application of psychology and sociology
- tries to explain the causes of crime
- studies optimum policing and common its response to crime
The crime lab
Ans: - scientific lab where crime scene evidence is analyzed prior to any
court room
- federal, state, county, municipal
WV state police forensic lab
Ans: drug identification, toxicology, trace evidence, biochemistry, latent
prints, firearm/tool mark, questioned documents
Criminal Trials
Ans: the location where the crime occurred is the jurisdiction, which has
a set of laws
Civil trials
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
Ans: - citizen vs citizen
- plantiff vs respondent
- offense is a "tort"
- balance of evidence
Criminal trials
Ans: - government vs citizen
- prosecutor and defendant
- offense is a "felony" or "misdemeanor"
- beyond a reasonable doubt
Pathologist
Ans: - determine cause of disease or trauma based on appearance and
chemistry of bodies or tissues
Medical Examiner
Ans: - appointed by jurisdiction
- must be MD
Coroner
Ans: - elected by jurisdiction
Death investigator
Ans: - investigate deaths under the jurisdiction of the coroner/ medical
examiner
- collect scene context needed to determine cause of death
Pathologist assistant
Ans: - does everything a pathologists does EXCEPT sign the death
certificate
Manner of death
© 2025 All rights reserved
