ProofTrail Research Foundations · Module 3, 9
Reliability belongs to individual information and conclusions, not to a document as a whole. One record can contain both strong and weak information.
What you will be able to do
- Evaluate provenance, informant, timing, and purpose.
- Distinguish direct, indirect, positive, and negative evidence.
- Resolve conflicts through correlation.
Why this matters
A polished certificate can be wrong, while an ordinary ledger can be decisive. Evaluation prevents authority-looking documents from overriding how information was created.
Analyze the source
Determine whether you have the original, an image, abstract, transcription, or index. Record provenance and any distance from the original.
Analyze the information
Identify the informant. Ask whether the information was firsthand, remembered, copied, estimated, or supplied for a purpose that could shape it.
Analyze the evidence
Evidence exists in relation to a question. Information may directly answer, indirectly imply, contradict, or provide meaningful absence when complete expected coverage exists.
Resolve rather than erase
Keep every material conflict. Compare independence, timing, knowledge, identity fit, and consistency, then explain the conclusion.
Use it in ProofTrail
- Open or create the Evidence record.
- Record source, repository, citation, and exact information used.
- Link it to relevant people and the question.
- Document strengths, limitations, conflicts, and the next test.
Practice with the fictional Williams case
Practice data only: Sarah, Robert, every record, place, and DNA comparison are fictional.
Compare the household, boarding entry, marriage, probate, obituary, and Bible. Explain why the A/E initial and age remain conflicts, why 1856 is weaker for Robert’s birth, and why missing church pages make the negative result inconclusive.
Common mistakes
- Calling an entire source primary without naming the information.
- Choosing the record closest to the desired answer.
- Counting dependent copies as independent confirmation.
- Calling every failed search negative evidence.
Check your understanding
1. Does the missing baptism disprove the relationship?
Check answer
No. The relevant pages are missing, so the expected entry was not observable.
2. Does probate settle biological parentage alone?
Check answer
It directly states Robert regarded Sarah as his child, but the biological conclusion depends on all correlated evidence.
Create the work product
Evidence evaluations identifying source type, informant quality, evidentiary role, conflicts, and limits.
Completion standard
The evaluation explains creation and addresses every material conflict used in the conclusion.
Continue the investigation
Turn the identified gaps into a research plan.
Written lesson version 2.0. Optional video fields support a future captioned video and transcript. The written lesson remains complete.