Mistakes and statistics

If I am entering a new household from the 1881 census, then I generally do this using Ancestry. I bring up the transcript, enter the reference and then the head of the household. Next I click the grey arrow to check the reference, and then I add the rest of the household. Before I finish I do a quick visual check of what I have entered against the transcription.

And therein lies the problem - although the head of the household is shown in the transcription with both a year and an age, the rest are shown with just an age. So I have then have to calculate the approximate year to see if I've entered the ages correctly.

Does that help explain things?

 

I do the same as you, Pauline, and agree with your comments about year/age shown on the Ancestry transcription. However, the following earlier comment in this discussion worries me a little:

On checking my entries for the 1881 census, I have occasionally spotted a discrepancy in the transcribed surname at FMP compared to Ancestry. In such cases, I haven't changed it but kept the Ancestry version - but perhaps I shouldn't have done? Of course, I can't remember which particular entries this applies to and I don't fancy going back and checking them all again! I'd appreciate some advice on this one.