To produce good quality family history, you should not think narrowly. To reach conclusions that are reasonable and defensible, you must conduct a reasonably exhaustive search and undertake critical analysis. [1] That requires consideration of alternatives.
Consider alternative sources and repositories
To conduct a reasonably exhaustive search you need to use a variety of sources and repositories. This improves the range and type of information you obtain, and improves the quality and strength of the evidence.
For example, birth death and marriage records are very useful for establishing key events in a person’s life and relationships within a family. However, they are not always available and the information within them is limited. Other sources may provide the information needed.
When you consult alternative sources, or different versions of a source, you are more likely to notice inconsistencies in the information. Using alternative sources may also help overcome deficiencies in sources, such as illegibility or missing pages.
Consider alternative explanations and conclusions
To reach reasonable and defensible conclusions you must apply critical analysis techniques to information in a source. Do not just accept information as fact, as all sources can have errors.
Consider alternative explanations for a situation before settling on one. If you are using hypotheses in your research, always examine multiple hypotheses and competing hypotheses. This will help you be more objective and avoid confirmation bias.
Be open to the possibility that your conclusions may be incorrect and be willing to consider alternative conclusions. It may be that someone else has evidence that you did not consider, or has analysed and interpreted the evidence differently. You should also consider whether your conclusions need to be revised when new information or evidence becomes available.
Use alternative tools and techniques
Doing things the same way all the time tends to cause stagnant thinking. You will improve the quality of your family history if you try alternative approaches, tools and techniques.
A different approach, tool or technique may help you solve your research problem and teach you new skills.
More information
Mind mapping is a great tool for developing alternatives. See my mindmapping post for more information, or Chapter 4 of my book, The Good Genealogist.
For more of my articles about planning your family history, go to the Plan page.
For more of my articles about analysing sources, go to the Analyse page.
[1] Board for Certification of Genealogists, 2021, Genealogy Standards.
Post last updated 15 June 2024
