Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Interview suggestions?

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Interview suggestions?

    I'm still new to genealogy. My family is having a reunion in a couple of weeks. I developed a one page, generic questionnaire that I hope to convince everyone to fill out. I'm asking for:

    Names/maiden names
    Address/phone/email
    Date & place of birth
    Childhood residence(s)
    High School graduated from & info on further education
    Married folks; date & place
    Occupation
    Religion affiliation
    and the catch all...
    "Other points of interest such as military service, hobbies, accomplishments, etc. (use back of sheet)".

    Am I missing anything that would help me really get rolling on the family tree?

    Thanks for your thoughts.

    Bernie Doran

    #2
    Re: Interview suggestions?

    Originally posted by Bernie Doran View Post
    I developed a one page, generic questionnaire that I hope to convince everyone to fill out...Am I missing anything that would help me really get rolling on the family tree?
    You've left off all the "connecting" data, such as:

    Names of parents
    Names of grandparents
    Names of spouses, former and present
    Names of children
    Names of grandchildren

    Of course, the more you ask, the less likely people are to answer. You may do better by interviewing them individually as *you* fill out the questionnaire for them.
    Dennis J. Cunniff
    Click here to email me

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Interview suggestions?

      This may be along a different line than you wanted, but my suggestion would be to find the oldest people there and ask them what they remember about their grandparents. Boy am I glad I did that when I first started in Genealogy in 1976 and interviewed my 3 surviving grandparents! I have such wonderful stories now about my Great Great Grandparents!

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Interview suggestions?

        Thank you both. These are very helpful suggestions. I am really enjoying learning how to think like a family genealogist.

        Bernie

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Interview suggestions?

          If you decide to go the interview route, you may wish to record each interview so you don't have to scribble everything down. Also makes for a more relaxed interview as you can keep your eyes on the person and concentrate on your questions (be sure to have a list to choose from-try googling "genealogy interview questions" to see what you get). If you have a smartphone, you can probably use it to record. If you would rather, you can get a digital recorder for under $100 (maybe less, I haven't looked lately) at Best Buy. Either usually are powerful enough so that you can lay it on a table between the two of you. Practice on someone at home first.

          Hope this helps.

          Where are you in Portland? I'm in Hillsboro.
          Kaye Mushalik
          -Muschalik (Poland), Stroop, Small (Ireland), Fitzsimons/Fitzsimmons (Ireland) Pessara/Pesaora/Pesarro/Pizarro (from Germany)
          -Dorrance, Eberstein, Bell
          -Late2015iMac27"Retina5K, MacOS10.14, iOS12.1, R12, Safari12.0

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Interview suggestions?

            Dennis - As I was working your suggestions into my hopefully one page questionnaire (I don't want to give people too much work) I realized I just need to include a pedigree chart for each of the in-laws. Great suggestion.

            Kaye - I will have to see if I can persuade 'the boss/CFO/wife' that I should buy a digital recorder. I like that. I haven't thought about it until just now... Reunion lets you include audio doesn't it? I'm in NE Portland, east of the Hollywood District.

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Interview suggestions?

              Originally posted by Bernie Doran View Post
              Dennis -

              Kaye - I will have to see if I can persuade 'the boss/CFO/wife' that I should buy a digital recorder. I like that. I haven't thought about it until just now... Reunion lets you include audio doesn't it? I'm in NE Portland, east of the Hollywood District.
              Or even an iPad 2!!!
              Andrew Allsop

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Interview suggestions?

                Originally posted by Allsop View Post
                Or even an iPad 2!!!
                Now you're TALKING !!!

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Interview suggestions?

                  Originally posted by Bernie Doran View Post
                  ...<snip> Reunion lets you include audio doesn't it? <snip>
                  Not sure about the audio in Reunion. However, you can keep it in a folder in iTunes and possibly in a regular folder on the computer. You can then make a transcription (word for word) or abstract (most important info) on Pages, make a PDF and include it in Reunion, possibly as a source.

                  Others may be able to help here.
                  Kaye Mushalik
                  -Muschalik (Poland), Stroop, Small (Ireland), Fitzsimons/Fitzsimmons (Ireland) Pessara/Pesaora/Pesarro/Pizarro (from Germany)
                  -Dorrance, Eberstein, Bell
                  -Late2015iMac27"Retina5K, MacOS10.14, iOS12.1, R12, Safari12.0

                  Comment

                  Working...
                  X