Human nature being what it is, we all find it difficult to spot the dangers in our own work. It is easy to miss an inaccuracy in base information, or to neglect to calculate carefully the best date range and location for a
search. It is also easy to forge ahead without good planning, embarking on a search that is unlikely to succeed.
Watching for Errors
Errors can be outright inaccuracies or skewed assumptions. Assess the reliability of any fact about to become the basis of the next stage of research: consider its origin, how many sources affirm it, conclusions drawn, and errors that may have occurred.
Some difficulties and errors arise from the two pitfalls considered in the previous article, handwriting and spelling.
Date and Place
When I set the parameters for a search the first step is to go back and
review the origins of the data. If the date range for a birth search is
based on information on a death or burial record, I wonder about its
accuracy. If the geographic area of a search is based on birthplace
information in a census, I realize other censuses or other record types
should be checked for verification.
With questionable facts there has to be some flexibility in the arithmetic
of ages. Women can bear children over a long span of years from their teens
to over 50 and men can father children over an even longer period. A search
starts with the most likely years and works out, in either direction. Mix
the degree of uncertainly about age with age possibilities, and the
parameters of a search can be further expanded.
Don't Set Up An Impossible Task
No one is going to look across the length and breadth of England and Wales
for a David Jones or John Smith. Logic dictates that we know more about
someone with a common name - narrow the time frame and the area and find out
some specific details that identify the individual (e.g., occupation, names
of siblings, spouse or parents).
It takes some research to avoid this pitfall at another level. Some names
are very common in a particular county or region, and at a particular time.
A little surname distribution work is never amiss, and is all the more
valuable if the source of any statistics is understood.
I know that names in my paternal grandfather's family, Nuttall is one
example, are common in Lancashire, just where he came from. Searches for
Nuttalls have to be narrowed down before they begin. Searches in the
International Genealogical Index quickly make this clear.
On the other hand, I would not turn to the International Genealogical Index
to check on the distribution of a name in Norfolk because that county has
few entries; instead I would look here in British Origins at Boyd's Marriage
Index.
Conclusion
There is little point in wasting time on futile searches. Results improve
with good planning; this means assessing the soundness of base information
and selecting sensible limitations of time and place. These are old pitfalls
that have new twists; we can be
fooled into ignoring them by the wonders of technology or we can plan a
little better thanks to the many uses or databases.