THE LABORATORIES WERE SENT THREE SAMPLES OF PAINT, TOGETHER WITH THE INDICATION THAT SAMPLE A HAD BEEN RECOVERED FROM THE CLOTHING OF A DEAD VICTIM FOUND AT ROADSIDE AND THAT SAMPLES B AND C WERE FROM TWO SEPARATE SUSPECT VEHICLES. IN REALITY, SAMPLES A AND C HAD BEEN PREPARED WITH THE SAME PAINT FROM A U.S. VENDER. SAMPLE B HAD BEEN PREPARED WITH DIFFERENT PAINT FROM A CANADIAN VENDER. THE LABORATORIES WERE ASKED TO DETERMINE WHETHER SAMPLE A COULD HAVE A COMMON ORIGIN WITH SAMPLE B AND/OR C AND TO EXPLAIN THE METHODS USED IN ARRIVING AT A CONCLUSION. OF THE 117 LABORATORIES, 93 (79 PERCENT) CORRECTLY RESPONDED THAT ONLY A AND C COULD BE OF COMMON ORIGIN. TWENTY-TWO RESPONDED THAT BOTH B AND C COULD HAVE A COMMON ORIGIN WITH A. THE MOST FREQUENTLY USED METHODS OF ANALYSIS WERE MICROSCOPE AND SOLUBILITY TESTS. SURVEY RESULTS ARE PRESENTED IN SEVEN TABLES, INCLUDING DETAILED BREAKDOWNS OF THE METHODS AND FINDINGS OF INDIVIDUAL LABORATORIES. THE RESULTS ARE NOT INTERPRETED. AN EXPLANATION OF SURVEY METHODS AND A COPY OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE ARE INCLUDED. OTHER TESTS INVOLVING PAINT ANALYSIS ARE REPORTED IN NCJ-47531 AND 47537. TESTS OF OTHER SUBSTANCES ARE REPORTED IN NCJ47522-47525, 47527-47530, 47532-47536, AND 47538-47542. (LKM)