Kathie, what a wonderful goal you've set for the new year. There is nothing more important to our success as genealogists than skillfully evaluating the quality of our evidence. There are actually three separate considerations involved in your questions: sources, information, and evidence. The mantra that guides genealogists is this: SOURCES give us INFORMATION, from which we derive EVIDENCE for analysis. A sound conclusion may then be considered proof. Each of these three elements (sources, information, and evidence) come in three forms that we need to weigh: SOURCES are either (a) original records, (b) derivative records, or (c) narratives in which the writer has studied various materials and created an original piece of writing in which s/he expresses conclusions. INFORMATION is either (a) primary--i.e., firsthand; (b) secondary--secondhand; or (c) indeterminable--when the identity of the informant is not known. EVIDENCE is either (a) direct--when it directly addresses the research question; (b) indirect--when it doesn't directly address the research question but is still relevant; or (c) negative--which is a bit too complicated to go into here <g>. You'll find more in-depth discussion of all this in several of the QuickLessons at EE's website: "QuickLesson 2: Sources vs. Information vs. Evidence vs. Proof." Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage. https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-2-sources-vs-informati on-vs-evidence-vs-proof "QuickLesson 5: Analyzing Records." Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage. https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/ quicklesson-5-analyzing-records. "QuickLesson 8: What Constitutes Proof?" Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage. https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-8-what-constitutes-pro of. "QuickLesson 13: Classes of Evidence-Direct, Indirect & Negative." Evidence Explained: Historical Analysis, Citation & Source Usage. https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-13- classes-evidence-direct-indirect-negative. HOWEVER, evidence analysis is not just a matter of applying the right "label" to what we have. Rather, it's a matter of understanding the strengths and weaknesses that each label represents and using these to guide us to the best quality evidence possible--so that we will not make premature conclusions that lead us astray for years. Elizabeth --------------------------------------------- Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG www.HistoricPathways.com www.EvidenceExplained.com & for everyday tips on records and record usage: https://www.evidenceexplained.com/quicktips/ee www.Facebook.com/ForgottenPeopleCaneRiverCreoles -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kathie Fortner via Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2015 6:41 AM To: TGF List Subject: [TGF] Census - Primary or Secondary I bought myself Evidentia Software for Christmas and am learning what I don't know about documenting evidence. Am I right that evidence is primary if the person providing the information has reason to know and secondary if someone other than the person involved gave the information. So are census records primary if the person you are researching was an adult and alive at the time or is it secondary because you don't know for sure who gave the information to the census taker? -- * Kathie Fortner* * <[email protected]>* *www.fortner.50megs.com <http://www.fortner.50megs.com>* ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks to all who answered my questions regarding census as sources. I think what I was missing was the chance during analysis to give my reasons regarding how reliable I think the information might be. For example if one census contradicts another in the age category. Or for example on one census the subject's brother was the enumerator. Kathie On Thu, Jan 1, 2015 at 10:04 AM, eshown via < [email protected]> wrote: > Kathie, what a wonderful goal you've set for the new year. There is nothing > more important to our success as genealogists than skillfully evaluating > the > quality of our evidence. > > There are actually three separate considerations involved in your > questions: > sources, information, and evidence. The mantra that guides genealogists is > this: SOURCES give us INFORMATION, from which we derive EVIDENCE for > analysis. A sound conclusion may then be considered proof. > > Each of these three elements (sources, information, and evidence) come in > three forms that we need to weigh: > > SOURCES are either (a) original records, (b) derivative records, or (c) > narratives in which the writer has studied various materials and created an > original piece of writing in which s/he expresses conclusions. > > INFORMATION is either (a) primary--i.e., firsthand; (b) > secondary--secondhand; or (c) indeterminable--when the identity of the > informant is not known. > > EVIDENCE is either (a) direct--when it directly addresses the research > question; (b) indirect--when it doesn't directly address the research > question but is still relevant; or (c) negative--which is a bit too > complicated to go into here <g>. > > You'll find more in-depth discussion of all this in several of the > QuickLessons at EE's website: > > "QuickLesson 2: Sources vs. Information vs. Evidence vs. Proof." Evidence > Explained: Historical Analysis, > Citation & Source Usage. > > https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-2-sources-vs-informati > on-vs-evidence-vs-proof > > "QuickLesson 5: Analyzing Records." Evidence Explained: Historical > Analysis, > Citation & Source Usage. > https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/ > quicklesson-5-analyzing-records. > > "QuickLesson 8: What Constitutes Proof?" Evidence Explained: Historical > Analysis, Citation & Source > Usage. > > https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-8-what-constitutes-pro > of. > > "QuickLesson 13: Classes of Evidence-Direct, Indirect & Negative." Evidence > Explained: Historical > Analysis, Citation & Source Usage. > https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-13- > classes-evidence-direct-indirect-negative. > > HOWEVER, evidence analysis is not just a matter of applying the right > "label" to what we have. Rather, it's a matter of understanding the > strengths and weaknesses that each label represents and using these to > guide > us to the best quality evidence possible--so that we will not make > premature > conclusions that lead us astray for years. > > Elizabeth > > > --------------------------------------------- > Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FASG > www.HistoricPathways.com > www.EvidenceExplained.com > & for everyday tips on records and record usage: > https://www.evidenceexplained.com/quicktips/ee > www.Facebook.com/ForgottenPeopleCaneRiverCreoles > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > Kathie Fortner via > Sent: Thursday, January 01, 2015 6:41 AM > To: TGF List > Subject: [TGF] Census - Primary or Secondary > > I bought myself Evidentia Software for Christmas and am learning what I > don't know about documenting evidence. > > Am I right that evidence is primary if the person providing the information > has reason to know and secondary if someone other than the person involved > gave the information. > > So are census records primary if the person you are researching was an > adult > and alive at the time or is it secondary because you don't know for sure > who > gave the information to the census taker? > > -- > > * > Kathie Fortner* > * <[email protected]>* > > *www.fortner.50megs.com <http://www.fortner.50megs.com>* > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > [email protected] with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > -- * Kathie Fortner* * <[email protected]>* *www.fortner.50megs.com <http://www.fortner.50megs.com>*