Friday, August 11, 2006

How Well do You Know Your Relatives?

Over the last week we've been discussing what I call the 'family reunion effect'. If you've ever been to a family reunion which included people beyond your parents posterity, you've probably experienced it. You meet someone you don't know. You suspect they are related to you - after all, you're at the same family reunion. You quickly figure out how you are related.

There is something about being together with people that you think you're related to that makes you want to know who your common ancestors are. Interacting with your living relatives creates a natural draw toward your common ancestors. It is often a natural entry point to doing (or atleast discussing) family history. This 'family reunion effect' has made us want to know more about how people interact with their relatives and if there are natural ways in which this interaction can be used to introduce family history activities. As a starting point I put together a quick survey trying to see if there are common boundaries to which relatives we know. Please take a moment and fill out the survey. I'll share the results on the blog.

Click here to take survey

Feel free to invite others to participate in the survey.

1 comment:

Dan Lawyer said...

Just in case you're curious, about 45 people have completed the survey. I'll let it run a few days longer and then post the results.