{"id":816,"date":"2021-12-28T17:46:11","date_gmt":"2021-12-28T16:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relativelyspeaking.one-name.blog\/wp\/?p=816"},"modified":"2021-12-30T18:12:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T17:12:58","slug":"one-name-study-methodology-my-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relativelyspeaking.one-name.blog\/wp\/?p=816","title":{"rendered":"One-Name Study Methodology: my perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TL:DR <\/strong>Do your study the way that makes you happy. Learn from others, pick and choose the methods that suit you. Don\u2019t be afraid to do things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A recent post on Facebook prompted me to write a little about how I work on my Southgate One-Name Study, in the hope that something I say might help other new members, or those considering whether or not to enter the wonderful world of surname research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am relatively new to this corner of genealogy. I joined the Guild of One-Name Studies in 2020 and registered my study at the same time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I knew as soon as I heard about one-name studies that this was a research project that was right up my street, and the fact that there is no official “right way” to do a study was a big attraction for someone who has, well, shall we say, a certain amount of difficulty conforming!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have always loved researching my own way, figuring things out myself, rather than being told what to do. Perhaps my methodology won’t work for everyone, but if my story inspires anyone to investigate one-name studies then I’ll be happy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How it started<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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I tell this story a lot, so many of you probably already know my tale of daughterly devotion gone wrong, but here goes: A few years ago I was \u201chelping\u201d my dad with fact-checking the family tree he created in the 1970s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(I may have inadvertently broke the tree)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realising that a)<\/em> my dad was probably tearing his hair out about my \u201chelp\u201d, and b)<\/em> that I really loved this whole genealogy thing, I decided to look elsewhere for a project to keep me busy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In stepped the Guild of One-Name Studies, who said that I could justify researching all those interesting yet unrelated Southgates under the auspices of an official one-name study. Yay!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So, how to begin?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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I could have gone down the route of spending time researching whether a one-name study was for me on the Guild’s website<\/a>, or taking the fabulous Introduction to One-Name Studies <\/a>Pharos course, or making lots of plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many ONS researchers and Guild members do just that – it can be a great way to start<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n