Whether you’re using Ancestry’s new Custom Cluster tool or have simply identified an important DNA match, determining how a match fits into your family tree is why we review matches. Since the publication of my Chutes & Ladders blog post, I’ve received several requests to elaborate on the concept of DNA Laddering. I am pleased … Read more
Last month, Ancestry launched its long-awaited Custom Clusters feature as part of its Pro Tools product offering. In this post, I put it to the test to see if it’s worth the cost and assess how it can advance your genealogy research. With Custom Clusters, Ancestry Pro Tool subscribers can create clusters of DNA matches … Read more
I know this runs counter to our internal motivation for genealogy, but sometimes we need to pause our genealogical research. Taking a break from cognitively challenging tasks like correlating DNA evidence and documentary research gives our subconscious time to process the vast amount of detailed information and complex relationships between data points. As a marketing … Read more
Finding the right group of autosomal DNA matches is critical in moving your genealogy forward and breaking through stubborn brick walls. However, sometimes these important matches are not found within your match list but in the lists of other cousins who share the same ancestor. Search as you might, you can’t find a match that … Read more
In the last post, I presented a strategy for expanding a genetic network of shared matches all within a DNA testing website. The strategy is called Viewed Match Switching. Now, I present a similar but more holistic strategy using Gephi network graphs. This process is more demanding of our mental and computational resources, but it … Read more
If you’re using genetic networks to analyze your DNA matches, then you need to also use viewed match switching. This DNA analysis strategy helps you find more relevant matches for the ancestor being researched and construct a more robust proof argument. I first introduced viewed match switching in my genetic network blog series in its … Read more
You’ve done the hard work in identifying a genetic network and analyzing the matches (Part 5). Now comes the fun part — conducting documentary research. Not that the other steps were not enjoyable and were void of documentary research, but now we get to apply our prior DNA observations within new record groups and attempt … Read more
In the previous blog posts, I defined genetic networks (Part 1), discussed the inclusion and exclusion criteria for matches within the network (Part 2), described how to find them (Part 3), and demonstrated how to efficiently review your matches’ family trees (Part 4). Now, I describe how to use Ancestry Pro Tools’ Enhanced Shared Matches … Read more