Principles of Family History Research

Genealogical or family history research is the process of searching records to find information about your relatives and using those records to link individuals to earlier and later generations.

This article describes a process for doing genealogical and family history research. In addition to following a process, research includes knowing about the different types of records that have the information you seek. For discussions of specific records to use in your research, see the "Topics" on this wiki for the country, state or province of interest. You may also find information about records in the genealogical handbooks.

This article is intended for persons who are interested in learning more about family history research. For a brief overview of the research process, see A Guide to Research.

Table of Contents
STEP 1: Identify What You Know


 * Use Appropriate Forms
 * Recall Information
 * Gather Family Information
 * Gather Low-Hanging-Fruit Sources
 * Record Useful Information
 * Organize Your Records

STEP 2: Decide What You Want to Learn


 * Identify Candidate Families for Further Research
 * One Family at a Time
 * One Research Objective at a Time
 * Select the Easiest Research Objective
 * Prepare a Research Log

STEP 3: Select Records to Search.


 * Identify a Category of Sources
 * Choose a Record Type
 * Select Specific Records
 * Describe the Records on a Research Log

STEP 4: Obtain and Search the Records.


 * Obtain the Records
 * View the Records
 * Search the Records
 * Record the Results

STEP 5: Evaluate and Use the Information.


 * Evaluate the Evidence
 * Transfer the Information
 * Organize the New Records
 * Share the Information
 * Restart the Research Cycle

For Further Reading

How to ask questions

Using This Article
This article explains the basic steps of the research process. Figures illustrate the text while blue boxes provide important background information. Key points (maxims) are highlighted. A short bibliography of books about research methods under “For Further Reading” is at the end of this outline. The appendix includes a useful summary diagrams of the research process and record types.