Excellent writing doesn’t just happen – we write, edit, and rewrite until the finished product meets our standard. As genealogists, we write research reports, ancestor stories, proof arguments, and much more. Several tips can help us write clearly and concisely and make it more likely that we’ll engage our readers. Tip 1: Write We all get writer’s block; when that happens, the best solution is to start writing. Don’t worry about wordsmithing the perfect introduction. Write something from the middle of the piece. Write the conclusion. Getting words to flow will unstop your brain, and eventually, you can formulate an...
The final step in a research project is writing a source-cited report. Although that may sound intimidating, after you’ve worked through an entire research project, writing helps to clarify what you discovered and make connections. If you have to leave the research for a time, the report will help you remember what you did and the future research steps provide a starting point for the next project. I’m working to prove a longstanding parent-child link on my Shults ancestral line using DNA evidence based on Ancestry DNA ThruLines and documentary research. In part one of this series I discussed doing...
Have you been wanting to use DNA evidence to help solve a genealogical research question? Maybe you have learned about the types of DNA but haven’t tried researching matches and incorporating DNA evidence into a report. The Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) is offering a course this summer that will help you do exactly that. Intermediate DNA: Planning for and Conducting Research Using DNA and Documentary Sources is a unique course. You will bring your own genealogical question and work on it throughout the week. The course is coordinated by Karen Stanbary and includes the following faculty members:...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to write a research report at the end of a research project. This is an underused skill and many of us need to practice! The benefits of report writing far outweigh the challenges. This is a replay of episode 119 with new commentary at the beginning. Transcript Links RLP 119: Revisiting Report Writing Research Like a Pro Resources Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist’s Guide book by Diana Elder with Nicole Dyer on Amazon.com – https://amzn.to/2x0ku3d Research Like a Pro eCourse – independent study course – https://familylocket.com/product/research-like-a-pro-e-course/ RLP Study...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s Dillard project. For the RLP with DNA study group, she is exploring the possibility that a cluster of DNA matches from her second cousin’s network graph are related through Cynthia Dillard’s parents. The MRCA of the cluster appears to be Elijah Dillard. In this assignment, Diana wrote a report. She shares some of her findings. Read her report by clicking on the link below. Transcript Links Is Elijah Dillard the Brother of Cynthia (Dillard) Royston? DNA Research Report – https://familylocket.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Is-Elijah-Dillard-the-Brother-of-Cynthia-Dillard-Royston_.pdf RLP with DNA Study Group Part 8: Report Writing –...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s Dillard project. For the RLP with DNA study group, she is exploring the possibility that a cluster of DNA matches from her second cousin’s network graph are related through Cynthia Dillard’s parents. The MRCA of the cluster appears to be Elijah Dillard. In this assignment, Diana followed her research plan and recorded her searches in Airtable. Her research log helped her organize many deeds in Pike County, Georgia, as well as FAN club members. She also used GWorks and the FamilySearch Tree in descendancy view to find additional matches whose...
How do you wrap up a research session so that you don’t forget all the connections made? Writing a report is the perfect way to not only make sense of the research, but to also correlate the findings, both with the documents and in the DNA analysis. In this final article of my series on using DNA in the search for Cynthia (Dillard) Royston’s father, I’ll share my process for writing the report as well as my conclusions. And yes, at the end of this blog post will share a link to the complete report for your perusal. The Project...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is our final interview with Research Like a Pro with DNA eCourse member, Allison Kotter. In this series, Allison shares her experience studying each lesson in the course and how she has applied the lessons to her own family. This episode covers the assignments for lesson 9 in the course – writing the research report. She shares her tip for getting started with the report, and goes over all the sections in the report. Tune in to hear how the research turned out and who Allison hypothesizes are the parents of Mary...
If you’re like me and overwhelmed by DNA and this new wealth of information for genealogists, I am going through my experience with the Research Like a Pro with DNA e-course to help those looking for a way to get started! This is the ninth and last post in the series. In the eighth step of the RLP with DNA process, Following Your Plan, Research Logging & Writing as You Go, I followed the research plan I made in Research Planning – Selecting DNA Tools & Methodology, and made some exciting progress towards my research objective. Now that I’ve conducted...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a continuation of Nicole’s research on Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor of Craven County, North Carolina and Warren County, Kentucky. In the last episode, we reviewed the objective of the project, to find the children of Robert and Sarah, the timeline, and the locality research. This episode focuses on the research plan, log, and findings and how those were presented in the report. Read the report below. Links Who Were the Children of Robert Daugherty and Sarah Taylor? Report by Nicole Research Like a Pro eCourse Study Group – more information and...
