Decide What You Want to Learn

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Step 2: Decide what you want to learn.

Nothing is more important to the research process than deciding what you want to learn. Most researchers have a final destination in mind even before they begin research. This is your research quest. However, to achieve your quest, you should divide it into several achievable goals. Goals are achieved by dividing them into specific research objectives and then accomplishing each objective in turn. A research objective is a specific piece of information about one person. See the examples in the following box.

Setting Objectives

This example shows how a quest can lead to goals which in turn lead to research objectives. Goals and objectives may be either genealogical or reference. They may be easy or difficult to achieve. Quest: I want to visit my immigrant ancestor's home town in the old country. Possible Goals: 1. Identify the immigrant on the Pierce line . 2. Complete the family group of the immigrant. 3. Identify Grandfather Pierce's parents and siblings. 4. Understand what it was like to be an immigrant. 5. Learn from where the immigrant came. Possible Objectives for Goal 5: a. What date did the immigrant arrive in America? b. At what port did he arrive? c. Is there a picture of the ship on which he sailed? d. Is he on a ship passenger list? e. When was the immigrant born? f. In what town was he born?

A single, clearly defined research objective will—

• Focus your efforts, one step at a time, on a single task (such as a name, event date, event place, relationship, etc.)
• Improve your chances of selecting a record that has the information you seek.
• Reduce the confusion of trying to work on several objectives at once.
• Help you succeed and enjoy your research experience.

In order to select a specific research objective, you will first identify several individuals or families you could research, then you will choose one. With one individual or family in mind, you will have agoal and can then identify questions about him or her. Next, select one question as the research objective. Then you will prepare and use a research log.

At the end of this step you should have a research log that includes—

• The name of a person you want to research.
• What you want to find (the objective.)
• If appropriate, the approximate time and place of the event.

Identify Several Individuals or Families

Research is most successful when the entire family group (father, mother and all children) is considered.

Using a Research Log

Keep your research log up to date. Organize and document as you go. Record the following:

• Your research objective as soon as you have chosen it.
• The records you want to search.
• The results of your search. It is probably easiest to enter records as you select them (usually while still looking at the catalog). Record enough information about each source so that someone could readily find it again—the source footnote information.
• Your e-mail and correspondence. Include the address you wrote to and what you requested. Including e-mail and correspondence on your research log is more efficient than on a separate Correspondence Log.
• Genealogical telephone calls and visits. Include dates, full names, and results.
• Notes about your strategies, analysis, discrepancies, and questions. Logs should be more than just a list of sources. Make your research logs as well the journals of your genealogical thinking and ideas.

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