Probabilistic Record Linkage for Genealogical Research

Authors

John Lawson
David White
Brenda Price
Ryan Yamagata

Keywords

Mormon studies, genealogy, genealogical research, family history

Abstract

With increased interest in family history research, there is a great need for improvement in procedures for generating genealogical information. One of the most time-consuming parts of the work is searching through records (such as civil records, church records, census records, immigration records, wills, deeds, and certificates, of births, marriages, and deaths) for information about an individual. When multiple records are searched, an individual may appear numerous times. Each of these occurrences may contain identical or unique information about the individual. More complete information (such as pedigree) can be constructed for an individual by combining or linking all the records about that individual, especially when in one record the individual appears as a child and in another record as a parent.

Recommended Citation

Lawson, John; White, David; Price, Brenda; and Yamagata, Ryan (2002) "Probabilistic Record Linkage for Genealogical Research," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 41: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol41/iss2/5