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Forensic Linguistics Software

TextCom

If you have ever wondered whether there is a way of measuring the compatibility of two texts for testing, then TextCom may be the answer.

Although the program is very easy to use there are full instructions for use and a short help file as well as an example.

How it works

The program begins by classifying each text in a folder (or directory). It uses a number of function word tests to assign values for categories such as tense, person, degree of formality, etc. It then issues a type-code (like a mini barcode) for each text and then compares every other text in the same folder for compatibility. It issues a report with average values for each inter-text comparison, as well as a standard deviation. It will report on any texts which are only minimally comparable. Note - this is not authorship comparison software, but it may assist you in determining whether two texts in an inquiry are suitable for comparing. If, for example, your inquiry contains vastly different text types, then they may not be suitable for testing. However, in the end, the decision on whether two texts can be validly compared with each other is something the linguist has to justify to a court. Software can only assist in the process. It does not replace the linguist's decision.

Note also that TextCom is only part of the technical solution - other factors such as text length also need to be considered. TextCom does not take text length into consideration.

Download: Free. There is no charge for the program.

If you are using Windows Vista operating system you may get an error message when installing our software. Just click 'Ignore' rather than 'Retry'. Eventually the error message goes away and the software works just fine. It's simply a quirk of Windows Vista.

 

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