ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the population genetic models used for assigning a profile or preferably a match probability. It examines three models: the product rule and two variants of the subpopulation correction. The interpretation of deoxyribonucleic acid evidence often requires the assignment of a probability to the event of observing a second copy of a particular genotype in a certain population, termed the match probability. The field of genetics is well established but largely concerns itself with things such as allele probabilities or genotype probabilities at one or a very few loci. The chapter considers how close the Hardy—Weinberg assumptions are to being fulfilled and what the probable consequences of any failure of these assumptions may be. The assumptions that make the Hardy—Weinberg law true are that the population is infinite and randomly mating and that there are no disturbing forces. One of the assumptions for Hardy—Weinberg and linkage equilibrium is that there is no mutation at the loci in question.
