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Formulating Polygraph Reports

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Author	Topic: Formulating Polygraph Reports
Toneill Member	posted 10-14-2002 08:49 PM As a somewhat new examiner (three years) I wanted to check with other examiners as to what they include or exclude in reports for private polygraph examinations. Especially would be interested in seeing some samples in word format from other examiners conducting fidelity exams.... If you have some reports (devoid of personal information) that you can send please email me off list at Newpolygraph@new.rr.com I have been told not to include any information about any questions and to just issue an opinion of deceptive, non deceptive or incoclusive... Tony IP: Logged
ebvan Member	posted 10-15-2002 07:16 AM As a bare minimum, I believe any polygraph report should include not only the identifying information of the subject and the examiner, but the following as well: Reference to the case information used as a basis for question formulation. Information regarding any waivers that were signed. Any pertinent admissions or denials made during the pre-test interview. The relevant questions used in the examination. The examiners opinion. Any pertinent admissions or denials made in the post-test interview, if one was conducted. and whether or not the session was recorded. If an examiners job is to attempt to resolve an issue for the submitting party, I don't see any reason to withold information that might help them resolve it. I question why a competent examiner would be reluctant to disclose relevant questions. Maybe somneone could explain that to me. ------------------ but then, that's just one man's opinion IP: Logged
J L Ogilvie Moderator	posted 10-15-2002 08:34 AM Ebvan is correct and relevant questions should be included in the results. Generally speaking comparison an other questions are not reported on as they shed no light on the alledged crime. Avoid asumptions and remember to give the information as it was given to you. Do not give your opinion on any thing but the results of the test. Jack ------------------ IP: Logged
J L Ogilvie Moderator	posted 10-15-2002 04:11 PM I will use this topic to give some information about some confusion by a poster on the public board about a test she had done on her husband (truthornot). She was concerned about being told at the conclusion of the test that her husband had passed the test and she later received a written report saying there was a 98.6% probability of deception. She e-mailed me a copy of the report saying this is everything she got. I did not recognize the format used and did not care for the questions asked, relevant or comparison but that is only my opinion. The report appeared to be a computer print out of a scoring algorithm. It stated only one chart was scored. The first thing it showed was what looked like a rank order of questions by response. C11 .77, C9 .76. The highest relevant was R7 .53. Then it showed a 98.6% probability of deception. It also showed something that read AV con .06, AV rel .01. Not being familiar with this scoring system I can't comment on what it all means. I simply told her that if the examiner told her the test was truthful that would appear to be the case as the largest response on the scoring algorithm was a control. I am not sure why an examiner would send out a copy of the computer scoring to a client who could not make heads or tails of it and leave themselves open to all sorts of questions from the client. Just give pertinent information unless requested to do more ie. subject, waivers signed, pre-test information, relevant questions, type of test used, your opinion and any post test admissions. If you have to give a score, which I can't see why you would, give your own numerical score. If you are trusting only to the computer scoring why? Your own score should be at least as important. Jack ------------------ IP: Logged
J.B. McCloughan Administrator	posted 10-15-2002 10:45 PM The above suggestions for writing your report are good ones. If your state has a polygraph licensing law, I would further suggest you check it for minimum standards. Some other suggested headings; Date and time of the examination. Where the examination was conducted. Who requested the examination. Specific Issue to be tested. Your report reference number, if used. Examinee’s answer to the relevant question. Keep the report clear, concise, and professional. If you send me an e-mail at, polygraph@ziplip.com , I will forward a sample word document template. As for algorithms. Polyscore was created by John Hopkins University and DoDPI. Although they are at best useful as second opinion, as research has shown that they outperform blind evaluators in QC, they should not be used as a primary scoring method. Polyscore received a rather poor peer review. IP: Logged

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