Questions tagged [research-methods]
For questions about how to conduct genealogy research and best practices for genealogy research.
174
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What to do with discarded research data?
What to do with discarded research data?
Some time ago, I was looking for anything related to the birth, or the family, of a lady who married into my line back in 1834. All I could see was one ...
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10
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5
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How should I record unsuccessful searches (that may constitute negative evidence)?
How should I record the fact that I have performed a search in a certain dataset and came up empty-handed?
As an example:
I search for Person X in the New Hampshire Marriages index on Family ...
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7
votes
4
answers
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Finding 20th Century vital records in Germany?
Every person I look for with few exceptions I find no records for. For example:
First: Heinz
Last: Zaun
Birth: Germany
Date: 1928
Death: Germany
Date: 1957
I know this to be true, his son is ...
- 1,294
9
votes
4
answers
130
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Where can I find more information on Danish 16th century priests?
My family is from Gotland, and in my family tree I have two priests who moved in from Denmark(*). Since Gotland nowadays is Swedish and these men are from Denmark I'm stuck, I know nothing about how ...
- 1,476
14
votes
2
answers
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Correctly identifying individual who goes by multiple names?
This question is general to all inquiries where a person has differing last names in multiple records. In my particular case, I am researching my 3rd great grandfather Simon Zoller (1840-1902) and I ...
- 355
33
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10
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Transitioning from person-based genealogy to record-based genealogy?
When we start genealogy we know the persons who are closest to us in time so we are comfortable using software where each person record is a unique "conclusion" person. We create a person record for ...
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13
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5
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How to do research using local resources remotely?
My great great great grandfather spent some of his life in Houghton, Houghton, Michigan, United States, and I would like to find more records for that area regarding his family. The problem is that I ...
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15
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7
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Tracking family names and migration patterns using GIS?
I posted a question, Using web mapping and geocoding to track genealogical data, over at Geographic Information Systems SE awhile ago, so I was quite excited when I saw the proposal for this site. I ...
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6
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Determining what old document with Illegible handwriting says?
When looking through handwritten records, I found a document. Some fields are legible and matched information I already knew. However, the name is written illegibly. I cannot read it for the life of ...
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14
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4
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How do you record a person you know existed, but with no (or limited) other details?
The Census of England and Wales 1911 asked for each married woman -- the number of children born alive to this marriage, and the number still living.
This information can reveal the existence of ...
- 13.3k
15
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2
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Why do historical and genealogical scholars differ in their approach to classifying sources?
Historical scholars classify sources as "primary" or "secondary."
Princeton University, "What is a primary source"
Library and Archives Canada, "Toolkit: Defining Primary and Secondary Sources"
...
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12
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3
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What details are needed about ancestor to uncover ship they immigrated to America on?
What basic information do I need to have about my ancestor before I start looking for the ship that he/she came to America on? So that I don't waste a lot of time fruitlessly searching for a ship - ...
- 2,119
10
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5
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Finding original surname of adopted child from New York?
My late father-in-law was adopted by his step-father when he was 10. My late grandmother-in-law never talked about her first husband and there is some confusion on the first husband's surname.
My ...
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11
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6
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How can I get others excited about an aspect of my family history without gloating?
For example, one of the major battles of the Revolutionary War was fought on my [several-]great-grandfather's farm grounds.
Without sounding like I'm gloating when talking about the event, how can I ...
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4
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6
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After the web, where is the next place to start searching? [closed]
I've done a lot of research on websites but I'm not sure where to go from here. I assume the next step is to contact the organizations the kept the records (churches, government/municipality, etc.) ...
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14
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2
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Citation guides for UK sources for family history and genealogy
Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Mills, Elizabeth Shown. Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace. Revised edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., ...
user104
6
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4
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Finding town or local church for distant relative?
In my situation my Family Name is semi-common. I can find several discussion boards and resources. My issue is that my specific tree is not known. I've asked about my father, grand-father, great-grand-...
- 1,294
11
votes
4
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Retrieving online source about WWII pilots which has vanished?
I recently discovered a source online for WWII pilots has vanished:
http://planesandpilotsofww2.totalh.com
Some of the information there I found valuable in research. I wanted to try and ...
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49
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12
answers
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When documenting location, should current or historical place names be used?
When I am documenting records, do I use the name of a city or country as it is called today or as it was in the year an ancestor was there?
Related to: When documenting place names, should I write ...
- 2,119
16
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8
answers
6k
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What is the difference between evidence and information?
What is evidence?
I have piles and piles of historical records, old letters, e-mails, all of which provide details about my family.
Is all of the information contained in these documents evidence?...
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17
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1
answer
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How can DNA testing aid me in my genealogy research?
My basic understanding of DNA testing is that it can tell you where your ancestors came from. How can just knowing the ethnic breakdown of my ancestors help me?
What if I already know where my ...
user47
13
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2
answers
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How can I get all the military records available through NARA (USA) for an individual veteran?
When requesting the military records for an individual veteran from the national archives, I was only sent the discharge summary. How do I know if there are any more records available for the ...
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How should I deal with conflicting information?
How should I record and report information which conflicts (e.g. differing birth dates for what I believe to be the same person)?
- 1,159
24
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9
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Benefiting from another's tree without copying and pasting?
Once one gets so far back in their tree, one finds ancestors in common with other researchers. It is all too tempting to collect information by copy and paste information from another researcher's ...
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