Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is the first in our new series of revisiting the research like a pro steps. We start with discussing the beginning of any research project: objectives. Diana shares her research objective for a project we will be following through this series: The objective for this project is to discover more about the life of Nancy E. Briscoe, born 7 February 1847 in Benton County, Arkansas. Nancy married Richard...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about what to do after you have finished all the RLP with DNA steps. Robin Wirthlin, genetic genealogist, joins our discussion. If you haven’t reached a proven conclusion, you’ll want to start on the next phase of our research. Choose a sub-objective to work on next – maybe you have a hypothesis to test and see if you can eliminate. We also discuss DNA blogs, podcasts, classes,...
If you’re wondering how to use DNA to help an adoptee find biological relatives, you’ll want to follow this case study series written by Hazel, our FamilyLocket intern. Nicole and I met Hazel at the RootsTech 2019 media dinner. We were impressed with her background in research and jumped at the chance to offer her an internship – the last step in receiving her degree in Family History-Genealogy through Brigham Young University. During her studies,...
Are you wondering how to blend DNA and traditional genealogy research? Have you been thinking you’d like to try a DNA project to solve a brick wall or prove a conclusion in your research? With my southern U.S. heritage, I have a lot of empty spaces on my pedigree chart. These brick wall ancestors are brick walls for a reason. Records connecting them to parents haven’t been discovered and may not exist. I’ve used indirect...
If you’ve been following this series of DNA blog posts, you are ready to create a research objective and move ahead in your genetic genealogy journey. With access to DNA results and information about matching relatives, you now have a tool that is like a sledgehammer that can break down brick walls in your family history research. DNA alone does not tell you anything about your family history. But when it is used in conjunction...
Today, Diana and I discuss research objectives. Focusing your research with a question is an important step when getting started in any research project. We’ll talk about the three types of research objectives (identity, relationship and actions) and the best type to start with. Diana talks about writing down your objective and including unique identifiers. This is so important when you’re doing a project to identify a person. When I started my first project in...
In my research project to discover the actions of my relative during the Civil War, I learned the importance of starting with the right objective. There are three kinds of research objectives that most genealogy research projects fall into: – Identify an individual – Prove a family relationship – Discover ancestor...
Have you ever completed a genealogy research project from the beginning to end? From objective to report? I just completed one and I want to share what I learned. I did the project for our Research Like a Pro study group. I wasn’t planning to join the group at first – I thought I would just help in the background with whatever Diana needed. She developed the idea for the study group and was finishing...
Are you ready to improve your research techniques? Do you have a difficult research problem in your family tree? Is it time to move to the next level of genealogy research? Whether or not you are a professional genealogist, you can adopt the same practices that a professional uses. In short, you can learn to research like a pro. This is the first in a six-part series designed to help any level of researcher grow...
How would you like to produce a research project in three hours complete with a research log, report, documents, family group sheet, and pedigree chart? That is exactly what each Accreditation candidate is asked to do for the final stage of testing. To be honest, this part of the process scared me the most so I was very glad to cover it in depth in my study group. I’ve now completed two practice projects and...