I started off this series with a description of The Scientific Method and posed two questions .\u00a0 When should a genealogist apply The Scientific Method to a genealogical research problem?\u00c2\u00a0 How does one go about doing so?\u00c2\u00a0 What follows is a description of how my cousin and I used the scientific method to answer a question about our own family:\u00a0 Where is our Aunt Bertha Danko buried?<\/p>\n
It’s not difficult to define the question .\u00a0 Genealogists generally have an infinite supply of questions they want answered:\u00a0 When was\u00c2\u00a0John Smith\u00c2\u00a0born?\u00c2\u00a0 Who are\u00c2\u00a0his parents?\u00c2\u00a0 When did he come to this country?\u00c2\u00a0 What was his occupation?<\/p>\n
But, when can a researcher apply The Scientific Method to help answer\u00c2\u00a0a genealogical question?\u00c2\u00a0 The answer is simple .\u00a0 The Scientific Method can be applied to any genealogical research problem for which the researcher can develop a testable hypothesis .\u00a0 First, one needs to have some information and resources from which to form the hypothesis .\u00a0 This information may be in the form of some anecdotal evidence, in the form of primary information obtained from an original source, or in the form of any one of many other sources .\u00a0 The hypothesis should be\u00c2\u00a0expressed as a statement of fact, so that one may later determine whether or not the results support or refute the statement.<\/p>\n
When one performs the experiment and collects the data in a genealogical study, one doesn’t generally go into a laboratory and conduct an experiment on the laboratory bench top .\u00a0 The experiment in a genealogical sense is usually a search of the relevant records, although other methods such as interviews\u00c2\u00a0or mathematical\u00c2\u00a0calculations may also be appropriate .\u00a0 The genealogist then analyzes the information obtained, interprets the information, and draws conclusions from the information.<\/p>\n
The results should be published, even if only to other family members, so that others can determine whether the information obtained justify the conclusions .\u00a0 Other genealogists may wish to retest the hypothesis using the same or different approaches.<\/p>\n
Well, in the example above, the result was negative .\u00a0 We did not answer the initial question and\u00c2\u00a0it appears that the hypothesis may be false .\u00a0 Part 3 of this series will examine the formation of a new hypothesis and beginning a new iteration of The Scientific Method.<\/p>\n
For other posts in this series, please see:<\/p>\n
Copyright \u00a9 2010 by Stephen J. Danko<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I started off this series with a description of The Scientific Method and posed two questions. When should a genealogist apply The Scientific Method to a genealogical research problem? How does one go about doing so? What follows is a description of how my cousin and I used the scientific method to answer a question about our own family: Where is our Aunt Bertha Danko buried? Continue reading