The Good Genealogist by Danielle Lautrec

Author:Danielle Lautrec
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Society of Australian Genealogists

ANALYSING EVIDENCE

When we analyse evidence, we compare information between sources and examine the interconnectedness. We seek to corroborate or refute the information and conclusions, and qualify the details. We analyse and evaluate all relevant evidence.

Terminology

While many people use the terms ‘facts’, ‘truth’ and ‘proof’ in family history, I discourage it because these terms imply a certainty that just does not exist. History is not the past. History is our knowledge of the past and our knowledge of the past is based on interpreting sources. The sources available to us are factors of who created them, why they created them, and which sources survived. Our interpretation is a product of the knowledge, values and purposes of the source creators and of ourselves as the source interpreters. Different people interpret the past differently and find different meanings in events and in the content of sources.

We do not gather facts; we gather information and use it as evidence to reach conclusions.

For example:

We conclude that a person was born on a particular date.

We conclude that the person mentioned in the source is the person we were looking for.

We conclude that the person listed as the father was the biological father.

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