73,385
edits
Contradictions and discrepancies: Difference between revisions
Contradictions and discrepancies (view source)
Revision as of 00:57, 15 November 2008
, 15 November 2008add problems
No edit summary |
(add problems) |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
The best way to analyze information is by thoroughly researching and comparing ALL sources against each other. Understanding how to interpret the sources cannot happen until a researcher has detected and analyzed the differences and similarities between sources. | The best way to analyze information is by thoroughly researching and comparing ALL sources against each other. Understanding how to interpret the sources cannot happen until a researcher has detected and analyzed the differences and similarities between sources. | ||
== Any contradictory evidence must be resolved<ref>''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43567656&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;referer=brief_results The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual]'' (Orem, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2000), 1-2, and Thomas W. Jones, "Proved?: Five Ways to Prove Who Your Ancestor Was" (printed handout for a lecture presented to library staff, 23 October 2003, Family History Library, Salt Lake City), 1.</ref> == | == Any contradictory evidence must be resolved<ref>''[http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43567656&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;referer=brief_results The BCG Genealogical Standards Manual]'' (Orem, Utah: Ancestry Publishing, 2000), 1-2, and Thomas W. Jones, "Proved?: Five Ways to Prove Who Your Ancestor Was" (printed handout for a lecture presented to library staff, 23 October 2003, Family History Library, Salt Lake City), 1.</ref> == | ||
The best researchers always openly acknowledge, analyze, and attempt to explain discrepancies. It shows the thoroughness of their research, their openness with '''''all''''' the evidence, and their analytical and reasoning skills. Knowing and admitting the weaknesses of a case leads to better analysis and conclusions. It strengthens the genealogical community by setting an example of honesty, and pointing the way to better interpretation of the evidence. | The best researchers always openly acknowledge, analyze, and attempt to explain discrepancies. It shows the thoroughness of their research, their openness with '''''all''''' the evidence, and their analytical and reasoning skills. Knowing and admitting the weaknesses of a case leads to better analysis and conclusions. It strengthens the genealogical community by setting an example of honesty, and pointing the way to better interpretation of the evidence. | ||
| Line 35: | Line 35: | ||
=== Spellings === | === Spellings === | ||
Names and words are sometimes spelled several different ways in genealogical documents. If you cannot find your ancestor’s name spelled several different ways, you probably have not yet learned how to search correctly. | |||
=== Names === | === Names === | ||
People and places sometimes have more than one name. People may go by their formal full name, by an alias, by married or maiden name, by middle name, by initials, or by abbreviated names. Different languages and different cultures affect the way names appear in records. | |||
=== Dates === | === Dates === | ||
Calendar systems vary from place to place and from time to time. Be sure you understand the calendar your ancestor used, especially when the calendar changed at the beginning of the year, or during the switch from Julian to Gregorian calendar. Usually, a date which were recorded near the time of an event is more reliable than a date recorded years later from memory. | |||
=== Places === | === Places === | ||
Boundaries and place names sometimes change. As a result of boundary changes a family living in the same house over a lifetime may have to visit three or four county seats to conduct their business. The same town may sometimes go by an Indian or a different European name. Researchers often give modern names for places that went by a different name at the time of the event—for example, pre-Civil War West Virginia. | |||
=== Relationships === | === Relationships === | ||
Sometimes relationship terms are used in ways that are unexpected. Proximity implies a relationship, but can also be misleading. In the American colonies parents often sent their eight- or nine-year-old children to a friend’s household to raise to avoid spoiling them, or to give them a trade or education. | |||
=== Sources === | === Sources === | ||
Always question the independence of sources. Did one source depend on the other for information, or did it come by that information without reference to the other? Was there a motive for the information provider, recorder, record keeper, or a genealogist to ‘fudge’? | |||
== | == References == | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
[[Category:Research_Analysis]] [[Category:Beginners]] | [[Category:Research_Analysis]] [[Category:Beginners]] | ||