Deal With Conflicting Evidence

Written By: Jayne McGarvey

Covered In This Lesson:

Introduction. What Is Conflicting Evidence? The 8 Steps For Dealing With Conflicting Evidence What To Do Next

Introduction.

At this point in the Green Room Research Roadmap you are collecting information from new record searches and combining it back into existing timelines and family trees. However, as you search a variety of record sources using different search portals, it is inevitable that you will notice contradictory evidence along the way. Watch out – because how you notice and handle this contradictory evidence may either get you into trouble further down the line – not knowing what facts to trust – or may provide useful clues as you dig deeper into your ancestor’s history.

Bearing this in mind it is important to understand how to resolve any conflicting evidence that you come across as you search new record sources and uncover new “facts” that are at odds with your existing research. You may remember from the beginning of the roadmap that this is the fourth element of the Genealogical Proof Standard:

“If conflicting evidence is not resolved, a credible conclusion is not possible.”

 

The following 8 Step Process For Resolving Conflicting Evidence will help you to:

• Spot a conflict of evidence in the first place.
• Determine how important this conflict is to your research question.
• Determine how relevant the conflict is to your research question.
• And most importantly, determine what to do with the conflicting information that you uncover.

 

What Is Conflicting Evidence?

As you progress with your family history research you are likely to uncover different types of conflicting information.  Examples include finding:

• Two separate records for a person that may suggest their year of birth could be one of two dates – each a couple of years or more apart.
• A baptism date for a child that is several weeks before the date on the civil birth certificate.
• A difference in the spelling of a name – or even a different forename.
• Transcription errors on one record.
• A different order of forenames on two records.
• Use of a nickname on one record – and a forename on the other.
• A difference of location on two different records for the same date.
• Or something much more significant such as two different potential fathers for your ancestor. 

 

The 8 Steps For Dealing With Conflicting Evidence.

The 8 Steps that I find work best for professional genealogists – and may work best for you are:

• Step 1. Recognise That a Conflict Exists.

• Step 2. Decide if the Conflict is Significant.

• Step 3. Quarantine and Keep Searching.

• Step 4. Evaluate Your Additional Research.

• Step 5. Compare Your Conflicting Pieces of Evidence.

• Step 6. Record Your Findings – Guesses and Conclusions.

• Step 7. Look for Errors in your reasoning and conclusions.

• Step 8. Publish Your Conclusions.

Now, let’s go through each in turn.

 

Step 1. Recognise That a Conflict Exists.

This sounds obvious – but too easy to skip over. Recognise that a conflict exists – do not ignore it. Otherwise, you will pay the price later on in your research!

 

Step 2. Decide if the Conflict is Significant.

Does the conflict matter in general and does it matter with regard to your specific research question?

 

Let’s Take an Example:

Let’s look at three different examples based on information for the same ancestor: Example 1:  You are searching for your ancestor’s exact date of birth. Therefore, a discrepancy between the date of birth inferred through a death certificate versus a headstone will be significant. It will be significant both in general and to your specific research question. Example 2: However, say you are searching for your ancestor’s date of marriage and you are certain that both the death certificate and the headstone are for your ancestor.  Also, you also have other concrete evidence of who your ancestor married. In this case, while the discrepancy in your ancestor’s date of birth is relevant in general, it is not relevant to the specific search for your ancestor’s date of marriage. Example 3: Again, say that you are searching for your ancestor’s date of marriage. Again, you are certain that both the death certificate and the headstone are for your ancestor.  But this time you do not have consolidated evidence regarding who your ancestor married. In this case the discrepancy in your ancestor’s date of birth is relevant in general. It might also be relevant to this specific search for your ancestor’s marriage.  Why?  In this case you may need evidence of your ancestor’s exact age to help reduce the number of potential marriage records that belong to your ancestor.

 

Step 3. Quarantine and Keep Searching.

If there is no absolute evidence to provide an immediate resolution as to which fact is correct, then “quarantine” the contradictory evidence you have uncovered and continue to search for additional evidence and alternate sources which will later confirm or refute the information you currently have.

The dictionary defines “quarantine” as “a state, period, or place of isolation in which people or animals that have arrived from elsewhere or been exposed to infectious or contagious disease are placed”. 

Genealogists like to do the same with records we cannot confirm actually belong to our ancestors!

In simple terms, save records (and their sources) that you cannot confirm or refute to a “holding file” in your computer or a separate box until you can either confirm or refute that the record belongs in your family history file.

 

Step 4. Evaluate Your Additional Research.

• Pick your evidence apart – how credible is each of your sources? 
• When dealing with a number of documents evaluate each document both separately and in conjunction with other documents. 
• Ask questions – who provided the information on the document?  Was it your ancestor?  Was it a neighbour?  How much knowledge about your ancestor would the informant be likely to have? 
• Could one piece of false information have led to numerous repetitions in other documents?
• Consider why the information was being provided. For example, your ancestor has applied to join the military. His military paperwork shows him to be 2 years older compared with all the other evidence you have collected. You have established if your ancestor was 2 years younger than his military paperwork states, this would have prohibited his joining the military.  So, this factor may have had an effect on what information your ancestor provided in his military application. Combined age evidence from both a birth/baptism record and other evidence may allow you to deduce that your ancestor provided false evidence in order to be allowed to join the military.

 

Step 5. Compare Your Conflicting Pieces of Evidence.

When you need to analyse your evidence even further then correlate, organise, collate, sort and re-sort. Do not be afraid to use several strategies – for more complicated conflicts try using timelines or sticky-notes. Use a “For and Against” column approach to identify whether you still need more information or whether you now have sufficient information to reach a conclusion.

 

Step 6. Record Your Findings – Guesses and Conclusions.

It is very important that you explain on paper how you arrived at your conclusions. Include your concise reasoning (use simple terms so that both you and others will understand what you meant at a later date). This can be as simple as a short notation “transcribed as….”, or maybe a note that clarifies when a boundary changed and attaching the proof of the boundary or place name change. A good example of this type of proof would be to present ordnance survey maps both before and after a change of boundary. 

This will help in two ways: 

1. If additional evidence comes to light at a later date you will be able to quickly look at how you arrived at a conclusion.
2. The additional evidence may lend weight to your argument or may refute the information you already have recorded. It also provides a basis for other researchers to judge your conclusions. 

 

Step 7. Look for Errors in your reasoning and conclusions.

Can you “poke any holes” in your own theories, conclusions and reasoning as you analyse conflicting evidence? Try sharing your research, findings and conclusions in the Ask the Genealogist section of the Green Room Forum and ask for help from our professional genealogists. You can see the link below.

Sometimes, especially for more complex and time-consuming problems, it may be useful to pay a genealogist for a few hours professional help – this may save hours of your time by validating what you have gathered so far.

 

Step 8. Publish Your Conclusions.

Once you are satisfied that you can reach a conclusion you may then add it to your research notes and publish (eg attach to your family tree or private timelines).  If you cannot resolve a conflict between information gleaned from separate records, then place your research and evidence along with your analysis into a “quarantine file” until such time as you can satisfactorily resolve the conflict. Look back over the above 7 steps at a later date when you have renewed energy or new evidence comes to light! A few days rest and a fresh head can work wonders when examining conflicting evidence anew.

 

Conclusion and Over To You.

Do you have examples of how you have resolved major or minor conflicts of information? Do you have an evidence conflict problem and are not certain about the best resolution method to use?  We’d love to hear more.

What To Do Next:

If you come across conflicting evidence in your research, then use your own method for capturing and examining that conflict – OR use our own “Resolve Conflicting Evidence Worksheet“. Share your discoveries/questions in the Ask the Genealogist section of The Green Room for feedback (see link below).

In the next lesson we prepare for the leap back to Ireland – Preparing for your Irish Research.

 

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Click Here To Ask Our Genealogist a Question Related to This Module.

 

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Related Resources.

Downloadable Worksheets: Resolve Conflicting Evidence Worksheet.