QA/QC Flashcards
Certification
Pertains to an individual; some type of testing /training required
Accreditation
Pertains to an agency or section within an agency; involves meeting set of minimum criteria, evaluation of policies, inspection of lab
Membership
Pertains to an individual, typically required a minimum amount of experience and letters of recommendation from other members
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD)
Professional organization of crime laboratory directors and forensic managers
American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Laboratory Accreditation Board (ASCLD/LAB)
Separate entity from ASCLD. Voluntary accreditation program that is a part of a laboratory’s quality assurance program ensuring that procedures, personnel, safety, etc meet established minimum standards set forth by the board
ASCLD/LAB International
More rigorous level of accreditation that must meet standards set forth by the International Organization for Standards and the International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC)
Technical Working Groups
Collection of committees that develop standards for various forensic disciplines. FBI groups developed into Scientific Working Groups
Technical Working Group on Biological Evidence Preservation (TWGBEP)
To establish proper collection, storage and preservation techniques throughout the forensic science disciplines by creating best practices and guidance to ensure the integrity, prevent the loss, and reduce the premature destruction of biological evidence after collection through post-conviction proceedings (NIST & NIJ)
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)
Coordinates development of standards and guidelines for the forensic science community to improve quality and consistency of work on the forensic science community. Will eventually replace SWG/TWGs (no longer being federally funded)
American Standards for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
Voluntary standards development organization. Development of standards for definitions, methods and standard reference materials for the collection, preservation, scientific examination, preparation and reports relating to physical evidence for forensic purposes and the general practice of forensic science
Quality Assurance
A program for the creation and systematic monitoring and evaluation of the various aspects of a project, service or facility to ensure that standards of quality are being met; steps taken before work is conducted
Quality Control
A process employed to ensure a certain level of quality in a product or service was met
Standard Operating Protocols (SOP)
Detailed instructions for performing an assay or examination including how to interpret results
Validation Studies
Demonstrate that a lab procedure is robust, reliable and reproducible
Robust
Successful results with very few tests needing to be repeated
Developmental validation
Testing of new technologies usually performed by “research” scientists or manufacturers
Internal validation
Verification that established procedures will work effectively in one’s own laboratory performed by case analysts or quality managers in a forensic lab
Reproducibility
The ability of a test to be accurately replicated by an independent source; looks at the variability in results obtained by several people measuring the same item
Repeatability
The success rate of a test in successive experiments; looks at variability in results obtained by one person measuring the same item repeatedly
Accuracy
A measure of how close experimental results are to a true value
Precision
A measure of how close successive experimental results are to each other when tested under the same conditions
Specificity Studies
Determine whether a test is detecting/reacting to a particular substance
Sensitivity Studies
Confirms the minimal detection limit and determine that the limit is within an acceptable range of the detection limit determined by the manufacturer
American Board of Criminalistics (ABC)
A voluntary certification organization in which its members must pass a test, have a minimum level of training and abide by a code of ethics
