I need your help

For those of you who do not know I am one year into a six-year doctoral degree in History and Genealogical Studies. My research involves multiple aspects of lineage organizations.

Examples of lineage/heritage organizations are:

• Sons / Daughters of the American Revolution
• Colonial Dames of America
• General Society of Mayflower Descendents
• and etc (there are nearly 500 organizations in the US!)

If you navigate to my page titled Ph.D. Research Questionaire you can read more about the project and find the link to the online survey.

I believe that perspectives from a wide audience would add important context and information to our study and would be a valuable resource for the present research and for any future researchers seeking to study the influence and historical significance of heritage organizations and lineage societies within the United States.

Participants must be over the age of 18 and are assigned a number by the survey program. They will be referred to by that number in the research. At the end of the survey participants will have the opportunity to give contact information if they would like to participate in the interview section of the study. This is optional, and not required to complete the survey.

For analysis purposes, the survey is broken into several sections. Everyone will take the sections covering general demographics, education, involvement in genealogy, impressions of applications for these organizations, uses of DNA with genealogy, and discrimination. After these sections, the participant will select from a group of descriptions that they feel best describes them.

These groups are:

• Historian, archivist, librarian, professional genealogist, or employed with a company that does genealogical work and interacts frequently with persons who perform genealogical research
• Member of a lineage or heritage organization
• Not a member of a lineage or heritage organization
• A paid staff member or volunteer for a heritage organization or lineage society who approves applications for membership or assists prospective members with their applications
• A genealogist/family history researcher (but not a professional) who researches for themselves, family, friends, or others for free

Each of the groups will have a set of questions pertaining to them to gather information on their impressions of heritage organizations and lineage societies. Participants can choose as many groups as possible that describe them.

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you will consider taking part and letting me know your thoughts on this type of research and these organizations.