Building Tables to Analyze Information

Do you build tables to analyze information?

For my GGGrandfather’s oldest brother, Arthur, I had a general birth location but no likely birthdate. My research question was: “When was Arthur born?”

In my first attempt to answer my research question, I wrote my analysis about bits of research findings that didn’t dovetail neatly. My narrative quickly became a dull blah, blah blah. In critique group, Lisa asked me, “Can you put this information in a table so it will be easier to grasp?”

What a novel idea. A picture is worth a thousand words. So is a well-thought-out table of facts and figures.

On my second try, I built a table with a vertical list of dates in the far left-hand column.

My brain found it awkward to finish.

In my third attempt, I flipped the table information on its side to display dates to as the column titles. This wouldn’t have worked if I’d had a lot of columns, but in this instance I had only four dates to work with. The horizontal presentation was more brain-friendly, and helped me “see,” study, and analyze the information.

Estimating Arthur’s Birthdate
Using Sibling Birth Order and Various Records
Showing His Likely Birth between September 1830 and 06 June 1831

Date	01 Dec 1829	~May 1834	01 Jul 1837	06 Jun 1841
Record or Event	Birth of next older sibling, Ann	Birth of next younger sibling, Mary	England civil birth registration began	1841 England Census
Comment, notes	+ nine months after Ann’s birth	– nine months before Mary’s birth	No results from GRO search	Arthur reported 10 years old
Arthur’s implied or calculated birthdate	Sept 1830 or later	before Aug 1833	before 01 Jul 1837	between 07 Jun 1830 and 06 Jun 1831

I added a title to keep me focused, refocus me when I returned to my research question from time to time, and enlighten the eventual reader.

To give the reader a trail of crumbs to follow me in my thought process, I wrote out my assumptions. For example, I assumed full-term pregnancies for the mother. Therefore, logic dictated Arthur would have been born at least nine months (1) after the birth of his next older sibling and (2) before the birth of his next younger sibling.

I also added a note about context, unsuccessful searches, and records I set aside. England’s civil birth registration began after Arthur’s estimated birth, but I had checked the register just in case.

The 1841 England Census gave his age as of the enumeration date. If the census reporting was accurate (another assumption), Arthur’s birthday could have been any time during a 365-day period.

Analyzing the information, I determined the 1841 England Census implied Arthur was born between 07 June 1830 and 06 June 1831. However, given the birth of his next-older sibling, I shaved off June, July, and August 1830 from Arthur’s range of probable birthdates.

I also noted items outside the probable range of his possible birthdate, such as the birth of his next-younger sibling.

This table did not help me prove Arthur’s birthdate. However, going through the process helped me understand how the information I’d gathered fit together. It also gave me a reasonableness check. And it provided a guesstimate of dates—for me and readers of the family history document—to look for Arthur’s birthdate if church records or other information become available.

The simple table of information took time to gather, build, and analyze. But it was well worth it because it helped me see and analyze what I had. Hopefully, the readers will find the information easier to understanding. And the table may give researchers a jumping off point that is further along than where I began researching Arthur’s birthdate.

As an extra blessing, I learned that when I’m struggling with an unwieldy, wordy description to ask myself Lisa’s question: “Can I put this information in a table so it will be easier to grasp?”

• How have tables helped you remember the records or information you already have gathered?
• How have tables helped you analyze genealogical information you’ve gathered?
• How have tables helped you communicate your message to your readers?