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research methods
Genealogy research needs enough structure to show what was searched, what each source reports and why a conclusion is reasonable. Family history needs room for voice, relationships, place and uncertainty. The answer is not to choose between a database and a narrative, but to connect them through people, events, sources and research questions.
Organize genealogy research in two linked layers. The evidence layer holds research questions, source citations, extracts, conflicting claims, search logs and conclusions. The story layer holds profiles, timelines, memories, photographs, places and narrative. Link both layers through stable person and item identifiers so every story can point back to evidence and every record can contribute to a human life.
Do not write the polished story first and retrofit proof later. Do not postpone storytelling until every question is solved. Draft an evidence-aware narrative that clearly labels what is documented, remembered, inferred and still unknown.
“Research the Garcia family” has no natural stopping point. “Who were the parents of Isabel Garcia, who married in Manila in 1912?” is actionable. Define the person, relationship, place, period and current evidence. Then list the record groups most likely to answer the question.
The US National Archives advises researchers to begin with themselves and move from the known toward the unknown. Its guidance highlights names, dates, places and relationships as core identifying elements. Those are a good starting index, but identity is built from a combination of details—not a name match alone.
Give each active question a status: open, in progress, provisionally answered, resolved or blocked. Record what would change the status. This keeps attractive side discoveries from quietly replacing the original goal.
A citation answers: what record is this, who created or holds it, where exactly was it found, and how can another person locate the same material? Capture the citation at discovery time, including image number, page, entry, database, collection, URL and access date as applicable. A homepage link is rarely enough.
A search log answers a different question: what did you look for, where, using which names or filters, on what date, and with what result? FamilySearch describes research logs as lists of sources already searched or planned, including the purpose. Negative results matter because they narrow possibilities and prevent repetition, though “not found” never proves “did not exist” unless the source's scope and completeness justify that conclusion.
For each result, keep:
A death certificate may report a birth date and parents, but it does not necessarily establish each detail equally well. Ask who created the record, who supplied the information, how close they were to the event, whether you are viewing the record itself or an index, transcript or later copy, and whether independent sources agree.
Create a claim table for important facts:
| Claim | Source report | Informant/creator | Conflicts | Assessment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth year | 1891 | Census household informant unknown | Grave says 1889 | unresolved |
Do not “correct” the historical record. The National Archives preserves records with their original mistakes because the record as created is itself evidence. Transcribe faithfully, then add a clearly separated correction or interpretation.
A timeline should include more than births, marriages and deaths. Add residences, occupations, land transactions, school enrollment, military service, court matters, newspaper appearances and the dates on which records were created.
Sort events chronologically and add age, place, source and confidence. The timeline can reveal impossible travel, two same-named people, gaps in record coverage, changes in occupation or a cluster of relatives and neighbors. It also supplies the spine of a later narrative.
Map recurring places at an appropriate scale. County boundaries and jurisdiction changed; a record may be held where an event occurred at the time, not under the place name used today. Record both the historical jurisdiction and a modern locator where useful.
Relatives, witnesses, neighbors, employers, church members and associates can identify the correct person or explain a migration. Create relationship notes for people who repeatedly appear together. Avoid attaching them permanently to the family tree until the relationship is supported, but do not discard them because they are “not an ancestor.”
This network layer is where story and proof often meet. A witness may establish continuity between locations while also revealing a lifelong friendship or community institution.
Write short profile sections as research progresses:
The labels need not appear mechanically in every public paragraph, but the underlying distinctions should remain visible. Use phrases such as “the 1920 census records,” “her grandson recalled in a 2026 interview,” or “taken together, the records suggest.” Avoid “proved” when the evidence only supports a working conclusion.
Context should be sourced too. General history of migration, law, racial classification, labor or conflict can explain a record, but do not assume every person experienced a broad trend in the same way. Connect contextual claims to the family's evidence.
_Fictional example:_ A researcher wants to identify the mother of Clara Jones. She creates question `Q-014`, then logs searches of birth registrations, marriage records, censuses and newspapers. Clara's marriage record names “Mary,” while a later death record names “Martha Bell.” An aunt recalls “Grandma Mattie.”
The researcher does not overwrite Mary with Martha. She links all three reports to Clara, records the informants, builds a timeline and searches associates. A probate file later identifies Clara as daughter of Martha Bell Jones; a church baptism recorded near Clara's birth names Mary Bell. The working analysis considers whether Mary and Martha are the same person or whether one record is wrong. The resulting story explains the conflict and the next step instead of presenting a tidy but unsupported answer.
Maintain exports outside the main application. A practical project package might contain:
Keep multiple copies, test restores and migrate formats when access becomes uncertain. A synchronized folder is useful but may repeat accidental deletion. Digital Preservation Coalition guidance makes clear that backups are only one part of preservation.
Pause after a major record set, a solved question or a fixed research period. Review person identities, citations, unresolved conflicts, new associates and the wording of the narrative. Close searches that no longer serve the question and promote promising side questions into their own plans rather than letting them fragment the current investigation.
Create a short conclusion summary even when the answer is negative: what was sought, which sources were examined, what those sources covered, what was found and what should happen next. This makes “no result” useful without overstating it. If a conclusion changes, retain the earlier report or version with a date and explain why the evidence assessment changed.
A periodic story review is equally valuable. Look for profiles that contain many dates but no account of relationships, work or place, and for vivid stories that have no attribution. The aim is balanced documentation, not identical treatment for every ancestor. Some lives leave a rich record; others remain visible only through fragments, and the archive should be honest about that imbalance.
Separate public, family-only and restricted material. Living-person information, DNA, health, adoption, parentage, allegations and exact addresses need special care. Ask narrators how interviews may be used, and avoid publishing another person's sensitive story merely because a relative told it.
Do not upload restricted records, raw DNA or private interviews to unverified AI systems. Automated transcription can assist discovery but must be checked against the recording, especially for names, accents and unfamiliar places. Copyright and privacy rules differ across jurisdictions; seek qualified advice for a specific legal decision.
A Roots Adventure Full Archive may provide a structured home for profiles, timelines, documents, citations, evidence tracking, reports and open questions, with context added where relevant. The project scope is customized; not every archive includes every possible feature. Readers can explore the Full Archive to see how that approach differs from a lighter family-contribution archive.
Good organization should make a family story more truthful, not less human. Questions keep research focused; logs and citations keep it reproducible; claim tables keep conflicts honest; timelines and networks reveal lives in motion. Narrative then becomes the clear expression of evidence, memory, context and uncertainty—not decoration added after the research.
Editorial basis: US National Archives genealogy guidance and record-integrity discussion; FamilySearch research-log, citation and organization guidance; National Genealogical Society getting-started resources; Society of American Archivists; Digital Preservation Coalition; Oral History Association.
Preserving family material means protecting both the object and the knowledge attached to it. This guide covers a practical sequence for inventory, description, safe digitization, storage, backup and responsible sharing.
A family tree shows relationships across generations. A family history archive preserves the sources, photographs, stories, timelines and context that explain those relationships and individual lives. The two are complementary: the tree is a map; the archive is the organized evidence and human history behind it.
Relatives do not need genealogy training to make valuable contributions. They can identify people, explain relationships, share memories, locate originals, describe places and traditions, correct mistakes and say what should remain private. A clear, low-pressure contribution process turns family knowledge into material that can be checked, attributed and preserved.
