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From: "Eileen Souza" <>
Subject: Re: [TGF] Negative Evidence
Date: Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:25:17 -0400
References: <D7E8456F7C7E4F5B84D798727AECE7E6@Media> <AANLkTikbbBpr84mfG+BnEWURjgze=3yWhcKQV0OgR-OA@mail.gmail.com><75F4C8D0-DEB6-478B-8165-C8628A77785F@me.com>
In-Reply-To: <75F4C8D0-DEB6-478B-8165-C8628A77785F@me.com>


I think "negative evidence" is when you use the absence of information that
you would expect to find in the record to strengthen your proof argument
versus just reporting that the information or record is not found.


Eileen
_______________________________
Eileen A Souza
Old Bones Genealogy LLC

www.oldbonesgenealogy.com




-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:] On Behalf Of
Jacqueline Wilson
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 11:05 AM
To: Transitional Genealogy Forum
Subject: Re: [TGF] Negative Evidence

Harold and Christy, the idea below is more or less how I would define
negative evidence - it is just not there. But having said that, I almost
think I would prefer missing evidence - except that missing implies it could
be found later, which in this case would not be true. So I am back to
negative. Boy I have to say, English is just not a good language to define
genealogy theories! LOL


On Sep 29, 2010, at 9:24 AM, Harold Henderson wrote:

Christy --

The more different ideas I hear about "negative evidence," the more I am
inclined not to use the term at all, just describe whatever the situation
is, or at least be very clear how I am using the term. I look forward to
hearing other approaches.

Baseline: page 25, section 1.14 of EE: Negative evidence = "An inference we
can draw from the absence of information that should exist under particular
circumstances."

Note that the inference could be quite limited, say if we're looking at a
birth register known to have very incomplete coverage of births in that time
and place.

The citation requirements for this kind of evidence (whatever you call it!)
are, of necessity, pretty stringent: pp. 463-464, section 9.37.

Harold

On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 8:52 AM, Christy Fillerup <
> wrote:

> It seems like we have a bit of a semantics question. I'm interested in
> the group consensus. How would you define "Negative Evidence"?
>
> Christy
> The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive
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--
Harold Henderson
Research and Writing from NW Indiana
midwestroots.net
The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive
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Jacqueline Wilson
Evanston, IL


Professional Indexer, Historian, and Genealogist Deputy Sheriff for
Publications of the Chicago Corral of the Westerners IASPR Newsletter Editor

"Wilssearch - your service of choice for the indexing challenged
genealogist."







The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive
environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to
professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list.
-------------------------------
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