We present a new analysis of the properties of star-forming cores in the Perseus molecular cloud, identified in SCUBA 850um data originally presented by Hatchell et al. (2005, Cat. J/A+A/440/151). Our goal is to determine which core properties can be robustly identified and which depend on the extraction technique. Four regions in the cloud are examined: NGC 1333, IC348/HH211, L1448 and L1455. We identify clumps of dust emission using two popular automated algorithms, clfind and gaussclumps, finding 85 and 122 clumps in total, respectively. Using the catalogues of Hatchell et al. (2005, Cat. J/A+A/440/151), we separate these clumps into starless, Class 0 and Class I cores.