The peer review/workshop on Wednesday was helpful. I think. I had planned on focusing more of my project on the process of genealogical research, the facts about W. S. Green's life, and the discrepancies in his historical records, but not so much the causes of those discrepancies. I just assumed that these were simply a lacking concern for accuracy. My group brought up some interesting questions regarding why people would have lied or misrepresented themselves if these half-truths were a conscious decision and not just a haphazard event.
They brought up questions about the overall accuracy of the United States Federal Census in years past and in Indiana in particular. Did many people lie about their ages or other dimensions of themselves and their lives, or did the individuals recording that information just not double check their work? Either way, was this lack of completely accurate information a common occurrence?
These were interesting questions that I would like to address, and I might, but I don't want to get too far from my intended purpose. Besides, those questions could potentially be a whole other project, and I only have a week to finish this one. Even if I don't get into too much detail about the causes for these discrepancies, I might at least propose some theories about them.
Thanks Alex, Beth, and Kyle!
On another note, it has been rather ironic that I didn't want to do a multi-genre research paper because I did not want to invent anything about my family or events in their lives. Of course, that's not to say that multi-genre research papers are bad though because Alex's project was really cool. Anyway, I wanted to research strictly facts, but I have found that some of the "facts" I've found doing genealogical research are just half-truths. And as the Yiddish proverb says, "A half-truth is a whole lie." I guess those "facts" haven't turned turned out to be quite what I planned, but I'm hopeful that as a consequence my project will be more interesting and insightful.
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Again, this is a thought-provoking post, Erin. I toyed with the concept of "truth" when I started my own research in grad school. I specifically was delving into truth in memory, as I recall. Now I have to go hunt up those documents to see what I thought then vs. now (gee, thanks! j/k). I *like* how you have gone through this process. Sure, your product might not be as "inventive" as Alex', but they make a fabulous comparison of the breadth of work my students do.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to be struggling with a sense of inadequacy this term, but I think that's a product of "senioritis." You've done good work. Honest! :)