The Reality Gap

Natalie D. Cottrill, BA

During grueling conservatory training as a musician, my music professor often talked about something he called the 'reality gap.' He described it more fully as the difference between what we hear in our head and what actually comes out of our instrument during a performance. Working hard to close that 'reality gap' was the goal toward perfect harmony between the creative expression in our minds and that which our audience actually heard. When that gap was effectively closed, both the musician and audience were better set to enjoy and appreciate the results.

It is with the goal of defining and closing this 'reality gap' and helping new genealogy clients and genealogists communicate more clearly that I have penned the following essay. 

What a professional genealogist expects:

Most professional genealogists will request that clients send them all pertinent previous research material that clients currently own on the family for whom they order research. Professional genealogists want to work effectively. We want to have the opportunity to tackle new ground with research. 

Unless a client tells their professional genealogist that they have worked on the family before, then there is no way for the genealogist to know that this is the case. This is an important point, because professional genealogists do not want to begin reviewing a client's project and developing a research plan, or begin conducting new research until the client is satisfied that they have told us all that we need to begin research. We need to have this data *before* research is begun and not during the research process. Reviewing this data is part of the research process.

I'd like to use the analogy of a Physician to explain the above in a different light. Most will readily agree that Physicians are professionals in their chosen field. Upon accepting a new patient, a Physician will expect that all previous test results and a case history will be in the file and ready for his analysis and interpretation before he or she begins researching the patient's ailment. If this is not the case, then the Physician will likely decide to wait to begin research until the file is complete with previous results and interviews before he or she starts research. The Physician realizes that time spent reviewing an incomplete file or by repeating previously completed tests would not be cost effective for either party. 

The process:

Research time will include the review and organization of all of our client's previous research results. It behooves our client to present his or her previous research in a coherent, well-ordered manner. This might be defined as a family group sheet or pedigree chart with a chronology of documented events that includes citations and a listing of negative searches, including the source citations and scope. 

Depending upon the volume of material sent to a professional genealogist, it will take time to review previous research, even it if is well presented. However, if previous research is not well presented, then the material will take a considerable amount of time to first review and then organize. Poorly presented previous research might be defined as unordered handwritten notes and records encompassing a number of notebooks and without sources, dates, and apparent results; or a mass of information on several unrelated families that have little immediate bearing up on the specific research request. 

When a professional genealogist reviews the client's previous research, their review will include the same analysis for accuracy, relevance, and cohesiveness as new research. The time it takes to do this review is billable. Discovery work of this nature is billable for any profession: doctor, legal aid, psychologist, lawyer, counselor, etc. In moving back to the Physician analogy, one would not expect a Physician to accept a patient, read through the patient's history and interview the patient without billing for his or her services. It is part of the Physician's expertise to know how to interview, the questions to ask, the ability to take the answers and distill the results to produce a set of symptoms and probable cause, etc. 

Limitations and Variables

With the uniqueness of each person's family history comes a nearly infinite number of variables that will affect the end result. The client must realize that some of these variables are totally unforeseen and can arise during the family history research process. And, any one of these variables has the potential to limit results.

Of course, one of the most limiting factors to research results, is the amount of time that a client allots to their professional genealogist to do the work. If a client sends 4 notebooks of previous research material for their professional genealogist to examine, organize and digest, the client must expect that this will take a good parcel of research time to thoroughly review. Thus, a 4-hour research project would not be an appropriate venue for this research - unless the client is willing to accept that precious little time will be left after reviewing and analyzing previous research, to do new research. 

The skill, knowledge and expertise of a genealogist could also provide a variable in the time it takes to complete research. A client needs to trust and expect that the professional genealogist they hire will spend the allotted amount of time working on their project in an efficient manner. Toward that end it is important for the professional genealogist to have a clear understanding of what can be realistically accomplished for the client in the time allotted and to communicate this reality to his or her client. 

Other factors occur during the research process itself. Common surnames will make research long and tedious. For instance, there are literally hundreds of John Smiths listed as a head of household in the 1920 soundex of Alabama. If we were asked to find a John Smith family in Alabama during that time period, it might take us 2 hours or more just to find a potential ancestral candidate in that one record! Then, a genealogist might come up with two or more possibilities, depending upon what more is known about John Smith. If John Smith married Esmerelda, then this would make the search much easier. Esmerelda is an uncommon given name for a woman in 1920 Alabama. However, if the ancestral John Smith married Mary, then there will likely be many more than two John Smiths with a wife named Mary listed in the aforementioned source. Granted, if a professional genealogist had an exact birth date for John Smith, he or she might try looking at birth records. But, the same problem would likely ensue. There will probably be as many John Smiths listed in birth records for the year of his birth as were listed in the 1920 soundex. Even in searching this index, can we sure that he was born in Alabama? Do we take time to look up each birth certificate to check the exact date? How are we to know, by just looking at the birth certificate, that the John Smith that we find in birth records is the ancestral John Smith who eventually married Mary - if we can't take time to find him with his wife and kids in the 1920 census? These are a few of the types of difficult decisions and obstacles that a genealogist can face when doing common surname research.

Then, there is the situation that often arises wherein records simply no longer exist that will easily solve the research goal. Records repositories have sometimes suffered through fires or other disasters and had major sections of their holdings destroyed. There are county courthouses in Virginia that have been burned several times during the course of U.S. history. Needless to say, research in those counties is extremely difficult, if not nearly impossible. 

Sometimes the record of an event was not even made in the first place. Pioneer families were busy staying alive and caring for their families in the frontier. Recording life events was often not high on their priority list. For instance, births were not registered prior to 1867 in Ohio by any statewide or countywide government office. Finding a record that would establish a birth prior to that date would entail searching alternate records sources. Generally, with alternative records research, many sources must be used simultaneously and used in conjunction with one another in order to provide evidence of one event. Searching alternative sources will take a great deal of time and this is something that a client might not anticipate at the time they place their research request. For instance, a client might ask us to establish an exact birth date, birthplace and parent's names for Hezekiah Buckner who was known to be born about 1839 in New York State. First, a census sweep of 1840 New York Federal Census indexes will establish all the Buckner heads of household. Each household would then be examined in order to find out which of the households included at least one male child under the age of five years. (The 1840 census is just a statistical census, so it will not list children's names or relationships.) There might be as many as 20 or more 1840 Buckner households to investigate. Then, after all that work, the genealogist might still be left with two good candidates for Hezekiah Buckner's father. Probate records for these two men will need to be examined. And, this decision presumes that both men had an estate that was significant enough to have been put through the courts at the time of their death. This was not always the case. Regardless, once a relationship between father and son is established and a likely place of birth has been determined, then the matter is such that an exact birth date still needs to be established. Potentially, there will be dozens of records left to review in order to find out when and where Hezekiah Buckner died so that research can commence for his tombstone or newspaper death notice. 

In the above case, as many as 30 or more records could have been reviewed and many hours of exhaustive research completed in order to provide the same data that a contemporary birth record from a state-wide indexed resource would have provided in a short amount of time. In this case, however, neither the birth certificate nor the statewide index exists. The finding and analysis of alternative record sources are one of a professional genealogists skills and one reason why clients will engage the services of a professional genealogist. 

The variables that can arise during research as listed above are only a few in an infinite list. Thus, there is no accurate way to predict how many hours will be needed to answer a client's research goal. Again, a genealogist's client must be comfortable with the skill level and expertise of the person they hire to do the work. Genealogists who are particularly skilled at their craft will often find the answers faster and thus merit their higher pay. In fact, sometimes it is only the genealogist with the greatest skill and knowledge who has any real chance at solving tough lineages. These are two reasons why some genealogists charge more than others - they're worth it!

Again, to return to the Physician analogy and all the variables he or she might handle: If a Physician's patient has a particularly difficult ailment to diagnose, then the Physician might suggest that the patient will need to go to a Physician Specialist and/or have several more hours or many different types of tests done. Even then, there is no reputable Physician who will tell such a patient that he or she will guarantee to find the cause of their ailment in "X" number of hours or for the amount of "Y" dollars. 

The 'How much will it cost?' question:

"If I had a nickel for every time I've been asked this ..." It is important to realize that genealogy research is an ongoing process and that your family history research will never really be "done." You will always have another generation to add, or another record to obtain. It is also important to realize that no genealogist has a reliable crystal ball that might predict how long or how much money it will take to complete your research goal.

One of my clients, a professional window washer, once asked me, "Why don't you just tell me up front what this is going to cost and I'll be happy to pay for it all in advance?" I answered with the following story, so that he might be at peace with my vague reply:

James, think of the situation like this: doing family history research is like being hired to clean the windows on a skyscraper, except that the skyscraper you are being hired to keep clean is constantly under construction. The owners of the skyscraper keep adding another floor to the building just as soon as you get the current floor's windows finished! So, your job is never ' done.' With each new floor, you have more windows to wash. With each new floor, the windows will be higher and harder to clean (special skills and equipment will be needed). Depending upon what type of windows are added to the new floor (and, James, you won't know until the new floor is finished and you can actually see them), the windows can take as much as 5-10 times as long to clean as the other windows. What if the 15th floor were all stained glass windows, instead of the single pane clear windows you'd seen on the 1st floor? So you see, James, you would have too many variables to deal with in order to accurately bid this cleaning job in its entirety: you will not be able to predict the height of the building, the number of windows that you'd eventually be required to wash, the difficulty nor the dirtiness of any of the windows. The best you could tell the building owner who is hiring you to wash the windows is "I'll do as much of the very best work that I can in X number of hours." "After X number of hours, then you'll need to pay me more or renegotiate, if you want me to keep cleaning."

We hope the above analogy will help to explain to potential clients the sometimes obtuse answer that they might receive from a professional genealogist who has been requested to supply an estimate. There are generalities, of which most experienced genealogists are well aware, that will allow them to make broad estimates as to the difficulty or ease with which research will progress. But exact numbers of hours and exact cost are usually unpredictable. 

So what can a client expect?:

A genealogy client must be willing to accept that even for most U.S. lineages, family history research is not as simple as looking in a set of indexes or pushing a computer button and then 'bingo' there is another ancestor to add to the family tree. Sometimes clients and professional genealogists get lucky and they do find ancestors in such resources, however this is more the rare case, than the real case. Overseas research has its own set of complications, but we believe that our point has been well made regarding the unpredictability of research.

It is critical that the client is comfortable with the professional genealogist they are hiring to help them. A client must have confidence that their genealogist has the capabilities and skills to know of or be able to locate alternate records sources. This knowledge will stem in part from the genealogist's education, years of experience, tenacious personality and more. A client must have confidence that their professional genealogist has the deductive reasoning skills required to manage common surname research and to make intelligent and informed decisions about how to proceed with research most effectively. To help make these determinations, a potential client can investigate evidence from referrals and examine the genealogist's resume for their years of experience, level of attained education, certification, and affiliation with professional organizations, etc. Potential clients can ask for a sample of the genealogist's work, too. 
 

Clients should expect that the allotted funds were used effectively toward their research goal in a logical and professional manner. Clients can expect a complete and well-cited reporting of the research results. They should expect a reasonable number of records were consulted or an appropriate analysis completed in the time allotted. They should expect good grammar, notices of any research delays or additional costs above that which is laid out in the research contract and clients should expect responsive customer service with their professional genealogist or chosen research firm.

The bridge - communication and education:

A reality gap can exist between a client and professional genealogist because of the many factors can impact research. Clients must be aware, or be made aware, of the unpredictable nature of research and the genealogist needs to communicate any limiting factors that are clearly evident with the client's original research request.

Some variables and limitations can include, but are not limited to: 

• the number of hours allotted for research
• the amount of previous research that needs to be reviewed, 
• the potential difficulty with the common occurrence of the surname,
• the potential difficulty with records availability, 
• and the time period and place in which research needs to be done.  

It is important that clients understand the research process, that they are comfortable with their professional genealogist's skills and professionalism, and that they are reasonable in their expectations of results. 

A professional genealogist will make as many of these research variables as clear as possible when a potential client asks for a research estimate for a particular ancestor.