How to Research Family History

Tracing your family's history can be exciting and fun. It's hobby that is suitable for both adults and kids and it's a great way for children to learn about their extended family, such as grandparents, great aunts and uncles. Learning about your heritage and where your family originally came from can help you understand who you are today. Researching your background is easy to do, once you know how.

Step 1

Speak to your family members. Find out as much about your background as possible. Talk to your father, mother, grandparents, great uncles or aunts and ask them about what their parents told them about their parents. Make sure to write down any important information, such as birthdays, places of birth, and any other information that could be useful for tracing your genealogy.

Step 2

Compile all the information that you have about your family, like birthdays, places of birth, ports of entry, if your relatives immigrated to the United States. You can use various software programs to help you organize everything, such as Family Tree Maker (see Resources). Organize all of your pictures in one place, for safe keeping. Some genealogical software products have scanner support, which will allow you to scan and upload your photos for future reference and safe keeping. Begin researching on your own. Contact your family members and ask if anyone kept a diary or if someone has any ephemera that they will let you have or look at. This can include old cards, photos, letters, marriage, birth or death certificates, and other personal effects. Write down any vital statistics, like births, marriages, christenings, and deaths, and keep in a safe place.

Step 3

Begin researching your family's heritage online. There are numerous sites dedicated to genealogical research. Go to your favorite search engine and search for terms such as "genealogical research," and "family history." This will return a number of sites that will link to various databases to help you with your research. Many of these sites provide census information so that you can look up your family name and find distant relatives.

Step 4

Ask your local library for further information. Larger libraries often have sections devoted to genealogical research. The reference librarian will be able to provide you local resources, such as various databases and registries to help you trace your history.

Writing an Abstract For a Grant Proposal

A grant proposal is designed to secure funding for a nonprofit organization to further develop the organization's programs. A good proposal requires a fair amount of research to find the appropriate funds from funders, identify deadlines, understand the proposal format and its required content. An abstract provides an abbreviated summary of the proposal itself, and its primary purpose is to convince the reader to read through the entire proposal. It also contains information about any previous observations and results that are relevant to the proposed project. A properly written abstract will contain conclusions and recommendations that will encourage the reader to move ahead with the project. It will state the purpose of the project, its specific goals, the research methodologies, if applicable, and the project’s significance.


Read the grant application completely. Use a highlighter or pen to denote the questions that you have to answer and the paperwork and materials that you must provide along with the application.


Draft notes to explain who you are representing, what your project is and the amount of funding that you are requesting.
 
Draft an introduction that includes a detailed, but concise, project description and why you are seeking grant funds. Include information about your organization's demographics and how your community or field will benefit by the completion of the project. The introduction should reflect the main points of your proposal, and include a hypothesis or a statement of the problem, the project goals and the research objectives. Use statements like, “The purpose of this study is to…” or “The primary objective of this project is to…” The introduction should also include a rationale to the project that will make it clear to the reader that the research is needed. Detail your budget and which types of resources you will need. Be sure to include a time line for the project's completion.


Re-work the draft, double-checking your figures and paying close attention to grammar, spelling and punctuation. Check it one more time before printing it out.