Evidence and confidence
How to read the evidence
Every relationship, date and place on this site carries a label saying how well the records support it. The same words are used in the catalogue, the person dossiers, the family atlas and the study pages. The label is always written out, so no state depends on colour alone. The labels describe evidence; they are not a verdict on anyone’s family tradition.
Relationship and claim labels
These labels come from this project’s own review of the records. They run from strongest to weakest, followed by conflicts. “Documented” is used only when a cited record states the relationship or fact directly.
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| ✓Documentedproved | A cited record states this directly, and the research has checked that the record belongs to this person. |
| ✓Strongly supportedstrongly_supported | Several independent, consistent records point to this, but no single record states it outright. |
| ~Probableprobable | The evidence favours this over the alternatives, but it is not proved and could still change. |
| ?Possiblepossible | Consistent with the evidence so far. A lead to test, not a conclusion. |
| ?Uncertainuncertain | Flagged as uncertain, either by this research or by the tree contributor. Treat as unresolved. |
| !Disputeddisputed | Records or researchers disagree, and the conflict is not resolved. |
| ✕Contradictedcontradicted | The available records argue against this link. It is shown only so that readers can see why it was rejected. |
| ↺Supersededsuperseded | An earlier proposal that later research has replaced. Kept for the audit trail. |
Marks copied from the family tree
Many links come from WikiTree profiles. When a contributor has marked a parent link, the mark is shown with the word “Tree” so that it is not mistaken for this project’s assessment. A link with no mark is called unassessed.
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| ○Unassessed tree linkunmarked | Copied from the family tree with no certainty mark. It has not been assessed against records. |
| ◇Tree-marked confidentconfident | The WikiTree contributor marked this link as confident. It is the contributor’s judgement, not an assessment by this project. |
| ◇Tree-marked DNA confirmeddna_confirmed | The WikiTree contributor marked this link as confirmed with DNA. This project has not independently checked that DNA reasoning. |
| ◇Tree-marked non-biologicalnon_biological | The tree marks an adoptive, step or other non-biological relationship. |
Record quality
Each source is classed by how close it is to the original event. The class describes the source, not the conclusion drawn from it.
| Class | What it means |
|---|---|
| Original record | An image or original register, return, will or deed that has been inspected. |
| Index or transcription | An index, abstract, calendar or transcription of an original. Useful for finding the original, but open to copying errors and omissions. |
| Secondary source | A published history, family account or later compilation. Its claims need their own sources. |
| Tree/profile only | Known only from a family-tree profile. A lead to look for records, not evidence in itself. |
| Unclassified | The source has not yet been classified. Do not assume it is an original. |
Record associations
Catalogue record rows use these terms for the link between a person and a record.
- Documented
- A cited record places this person in this event.
- Probable
- The record probably concerns this person, but the identification is not proved.
- Profile lead
- Reported on a tree profile; inspect its sources before relying on it.
- Kin-inferred profile lead
- Placed through a relative’s tree profile, not through a record naming this person.
- Traditional
- A family tradition or later account without a contemporary record.
- Estimated
- A date or place inferred from other evidence, such as an age at death or a later census.
Estimated dates and places
A date or place without a record behind it is marked as an estimate or a limit. An estimate is a working value; it can move when a record is found.
- Exact
- A day, month and year taken from a record.
- c. / about
- An approximate date, usually calculated from an age or a nearby event.
- before / after
- A limit only: the event happened before or after this date.
- Estimated
- A date or place inferred from other evidence. It is a working value, not a recorded fact.
- Place not established
- No reviewed record gives the place; a tree value may be shown separately as a lead.
Research clusters are not proof of kinship
Research clusters, households and study groups organise related records and hypotheses. Being placed in the same cluster does not prove that people were related. A family atlas branch or a visual root is a layout choice, not a shared ancestor.
Study page scale
Family and locality studies use a shorter four-step scale for their clusters and links.
- Documented
- A cited record states the link.
- Strongly supported
- Consistent records support it; none states it outright.
- Working hypothesis
- A proposal the study is testing; not a conclusion.
- Unresolved
- Not yet assessed, or the records do not decide it.
Open research questions
Open questions on the research page and in person dossiers use these fields.
- Open
- Still being researched. The question shows what would resolve it and which record to request or inspect.
- Partly answered
- Part of the question is settled; the remaining part stays open.
- Answered
- Settled by the records named in the task. Kept so that the reasoning stays visible.
- What would resolve this
- The finding that would settle the question, as stated in the maintained research.
- Record to request or inspect
- The particular register, file or index entry to consult next.
- Not yet identified
- The research has not yet named a deciding finding or record. The site does not fill the gap with a guess.
If a label looks wrong
Send the profile, the exact claim and the record that bears on it through the correction form. A label changes only when the evidence does.
Machine-readable vocabulary: evidence-labels.json.