I have worked with DNA testing for a number of years now, and manage tests for around 30 people. I would like to make two points based on what I have experienced: First, people put far too much emphasis on the ethnicity estimates. These estimates are the least important part of the test. They are very general in nature, and are unlikely to teach you very much, especially if you already know you have several ethnic groups in your background. Second, the relationship matches are usually very accurate, and can be a great tool if analyzed properly. You can use it to verify the accuracy of your pedigree lines, and reveal new relationships. But remember, DNA testing is just an additional tool; it is not intended to replace traditional forms of research. If you expect the DNA test to provide you with a complete pedigree with no work on your own part, you will be very disappointed. I do encourage people to test, however, as the larger the pool of test takers becomes, the more useful the results will be.

I think most people believe the ethnicity results are promoted by Ancestry because they are a selling point in the American market where people will have a wider range of ethnicity than in the UK. Many also lost any faith in it when Ancestry originally grouped all "Celtic" origins under one label "Irish". They have changed that now and the ethnicity fits roughly with what is expected though the odd person but get something unexpected. At times it can be accurate, I have mentioned before that I have been able to prove fairly conclusively that someone born in the early 19th Century was illegitimate. I was also able to help someone abroad find who his Grandmother's father was, which had been completely unknown. Martin Briscoe Fort William Ancestry DNA, FTDNA (B68554), GEDMatch (A374507) -----Original Message----- From: genscan@tds.net [mailto:genscan@tds.net] Sent: Monday, May 21, 2018 2:17 AM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAN] DNA Testing I have worked with DNA testing for a number of years now, and manage tests for around 30 people. I would like to make two points based on what I have experienced: First, people put far too much emphasis on the ethnicity estimates. These estimates are the least important part of the test. They are very general in nature, and are unlikely to teach you very much, especially if you already know you have several ethnic groups in your background. Second, the relationship matches are usually very accurate, and can be a great tool if analyzed properly. You can use it to verify the accuracy of your pedigree lines, and reveal new relationships. But remember, DNA testing is just an additional tool; it is not intended to replace traditional forms of research. If you expect the DNA test to provide you with a complete pedigree with no work on your own part, you will be very disappointed. I do encourage people to test, however, as the larger the pool of test takers becomes, the more useful the results will be.

Yes the classic case of the identical triplets who showed as Identical DNA - but - had quite a variance in their ethnicity (How could that be?) it was on a TV show in US. marg -----Original Message----- From: Martin Briscoe (W10 laptop) <list@mbriscoe.me.uk> Sent: Monday, 21 May 2018 6:20 PM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAN] Re: DNA Testing I think most people believe the ethnicity results are promoted by Ancestry because they are a selling point in the American market where people will have a wider range of ethnicity than in the UK. Many also lost any faith in it when Ancestry originally grouped all "Celtic" origins under one label "Irish". They have changed that now and the ethnicity fits roughly with what is expected though the odd person but get something unexpected. At times it can be accurate, I have mentioned before that I have been able to prove fairly conclusively that someone born in the early 19th Century was illegitimate. I was also able to help someone abroad find who his Grandmother's father was, which had been completely unknown. Martin Briscoe Fort William Ancestry DNA, FTDNA (B68554), GEDMatch (A374507) -----Original Message----- From: genscan@tds.net [mailto:genscan@tds.net] Sent: Monday, May 21, 2018 2:17 AM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAN] DNA Testing I have worked with DNA testing for a number of years now, and manage tests for around 30 people. I would like to make two points based on what I have experienced: First, people put far too much emphasis on the ethnicity estimates. These estimates are the least important part of the test. They are very general in nature, and are unlikely to teach you very much, especially if you already know you have several ethnic groups in your background. Second, the relationship matches are usually very accurate, and can be a great tool if analyzed properly. You can use it to verify the accuracy of your pedigree lines, and reveal new relationships. But remember, DNA testing is just an additional tool; it is not intended to replace traditional forms of research. If you expect the DNA test to provide you with a complete pedigree with no work on your own part, you will be very disappointed. I do encourage people to test, however, as the larger the pool of test takers becomes, the more useful the results will be. _______________________________________________ :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: GENUKI - a virtual reference library of genealogical information. http://www.genuki.org.uk/ Contact the list administrator at LancsGen-admin@rootsweb.com :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community

You get half your mother's and half your father's DNA but you could get opposite halves of each. Grandchildren get approx 1/4 but not exactly, so each generation loses some connections that are there but don't show in the DNA. On Tue, 22 May 2018 18:43:15 +1000, marg wrote: Yes the classic case of the identical triplets who showed as Identical DNA - but - had quite a variance in their ethnicity (How could that be?) it was on a TV show in US. marg ---yal RootsWeb community

I do not know if we saw the same TV report (I am aware of two different ones, one on "Inside Edition" and the other on NBC's Rosen Reports), and the advertising for the stories was rather misleading when compared to the actual stories. The Rosen Report actually verified the accuracy of three different testing companies. Inside Edition's report made it sound like there were huge variations when the actual differences were in fact very small. The "European Estimate was identical, and the difference was in the subgroups such as English and Scandinavian. Those results came back something like 9%, 8%,, and 12%. My recollection from my college statistics class was that any thing less than a 5% variation is not considered "statistically significant", although I assume some may argue that. Also, some differences are explained by the fact that different companies define ethnic regions differently. I do, however, return to my original point that the ethnic estimates are really the least important (and the least accurate) part of the DNA test results. Pay more attention to your actual matches and you will learn much more about your background than by looking at the ethnicity estimates. ----- Original Message ----- From: "marg" <marg_alt@iinet.net.au> To: martin@mbriscoe.me.uk, lancsgen@rootsweb.com Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2018 3:43:15 AM Subject: [LAN] Re: DNA Testing Yes the classic case of the identical triplets who showed as Identical DNA - but - had quite a variance in their ethnicity (How could that be?) it was on a TV show in US. marg -----Original Message----- From: Martin Briscoe (W10 laptop) <list@mbriscoe.me.uk> Sent: Monday, 21 May 2018 6:20 PM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAN] Re: DNA Testing I think most people believe the ethnicity results are promoted by Ancestry because they are a selling point in the American market where people will have a wider range of ethnicity than in the UK. Many also lost any faith in it when Ancestry originally grouped all "Celtic" origins under one label "Irish". They have changed that now and the ethnicity fits roughly with what is expected though the odd person but get something unexpected. At times it can be accurate, I have mentioned before that I have been able to prove fairly conclusively that someone born in the early 19th Century was illegitimate. I was also able to help someone abroad find who his Grandmother's father was, which had been completely unknown. Martin Briscoe Fort William Ancestry DNA, FTDNA (B68554), GEDMatch (A374507) -----Original Message----- From: genscan@tds.net [mailto:genscan@tds.net] Sent: Monday, May 21, 2018 2:17 AM To: lancsgen@rootsweb.com Subject: [LAN] DNA Testing I have worked with DNA testing for a number of years now, and manage tests for around 30 people. I would like to make two points based on what I have experienced: First, people put far too much emphasis on the ethnicity estimates. These estimates are the least important part of the test. They are very general in nature, and are unlikely to teach you very much, especially if you already know you have several ethnic groups in your background. Second, the relationship matches are usually very accurate, and can be a great tool if analyzed properly. You can use it to verify the accuracy of your pedigree lines, and reveal new relationships. But remember, DNA testing is just an additional tool; it is not intended to replace traditional forms of research. If you expect the DNA test to provide you with a complete pedigree with no work on your own part, you will be very disappointed. I do encourage people to test, however, as the larger the pool of test takers becomes, the more useful the results will be. _______________________________________________ :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: GENUKI - a virtual reference library of genealogical information. http://www.genuki.org.uk/ Contact the list administrator at LancsGen-admin@rootsweb.com :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community _______________________________________________ :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: GENUKI - a virtual reference library of genealogical information. http://www.genuki.org.uk/ Contact the list administrator at LancsGen-admin@rootsweb.com :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: :-+-: _______________________________________________ Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref Unsubscribe https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/postorius/lists/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Archives: https://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/hyperkitty/list/lancsgen@rootsweb.com/ Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb community