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Two dimensions are better than one?

Discussion in 'Comments on the latest newsletter' started by Pauline, Dec 29, 2019.

  1. canadianbeth

    canadianbeth LostCousins Star

    My match potential is only 2.2354. I do not remember what it was last time I looked and commented on another thread. I should write it down somewhere. :)

    According to my summary I have 446 ancestors listed; 41 of them have numbers beside them. Is that a good average of direct ancestors? I know it is a pretty low total compared to most of you.
     
  2. Bryman

    Bryman LostCousins Megastar

    Doesn't it always go up, unless entries are removed within the LC system? Even if I don't add any new references, the activity of other members should normally ensure that my Match Potential increases, even if only by a little.

    That figure is not something that I look at very often and I don't know how you calculate it but I did once derive a simple formula which was probably very similar. That was based on the summation of potentials for each census using number of my entries, those of others, and the total of all possible entries in that census.
     
  3. Helen7

    Helen7 LostCousins Superstar

    Well, this newsletter article has provoked an interesting discussion.

    My research started out quite one-dimensional (i.e. researching direct ancestors only) but rapidly spread to encompass families - siblings and, yes, nieces and nephews. I quickly realised that getting a fuller picture in this way not only made the research more interesting, but could often help with confirming (or otherwise) my findings on direct ancestors. I have often found that wider family (nieces, nephews, in-laws, cousins etc.) living with ancestors on censuses has been invaluable in confirming I've found the right family, especially where common surnames are involved. I also agree that other sources (e.g. wills) can provide valuable insights too. Ditto informants on death certificates, witnesses on marriage registers etc. may well be wider family. I have numerous examples of this, e.g. a marriage register for a direct ancestor had her maternal uncle as a witness, enabling me to confirm her mother's maiden name and go back a further generation.

    I totally agree with you here. I clearly have an investigative mind, harking back to my days as a forensic scientist. Good record-keeping is clearly very important (as it was in my previous career), but I find that aspect the most tedious.

    I would never pay anyone else to research my family tree on my behalf, as for me it is the thrill of the chase that engages me more than the final results - though of course making interesting discoveries (such as finding a murderer and a Titanic survivor amongst the wider family) make the boring bits worthwhile. As Pauline said, we don't need to research our family history at all - unlike gardening, where the neighbours would probably complain if our garden wasn't kept tidy.
     
    • Agree Agree x 1
  4. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Nor do we need to have a garden. We could watch 5 hours of TV a day like the average Briton.
     
  5. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    No, I only review the statistics three or four times a year (which is why I announce the updates in this forum). In between the displayed figure will remain constant unless you add entries yourself.
     
  6. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Nor would I. And some people would never pay a gardener.

    But I do occasionally pay someone to look up a specific record on my behalf - I try to keep my research as environmentally friendly as possible.
     
  7. Pauline

    Pauline LostCousins Megastar

    I don't have a garden but nor do I watch 5 hours of TV a day - more like 5 hours a week. If I fell out of love with family history (not that I can see that happening any time soon), garden or no garden, I still wouldn't want to watch 5 hours TV a day. I would continue walking and all the other activities I do now, but I might take up model railways again as well.
     
  8. Helen7

    Helen7 LostCousins Superstar

    I couldn't see the link between not having a garden and watching lots of TV either. Whether you have a garden or not (and I do, and pay someone to keep it tidy as I hate gardening!), there are lots of other interesting things to do with your spare time apart from family history, as you rightly point out.
     
  9. canadianbeth

    canadianbeth LostCousins Star

    It depends on the time of year how much TV I watch. These days, very little but once baseball season begins I watch just about every day. That is when I get most of my needlework done as well, finished eight projects and made a good start on another. (I just checked to make sure that the new Doctor Who episodes are set to tape but if and when I actually watch them is another story; I have 34 Jeopardy ones to watch) But I did average more than one book a day in December. As for gardening, we grow a few hardy roses in front of our unit but that is about all. And I have a very large "Christmas" cactus indoors that blooms at least twice a year, sometimes three.
     
  10. peter

    peter Administrator Staff Member

    Tape?
     
  11. canadianbeth

    canadianbeth LostCousins Star

    PVR. I still use the old VCR terminology. :)
     
  12. Susan48

    Susan48 LostCousins Superstar

    Going for a walk - even just to the local shops and back - is a good opportunity to mull over family history problems. Similarly riding the local bus into town - most of the other passengers are glued to their smartphones.
     
    • Creative Creative x 2

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