Researching family history involves the study of many subjects and the starting point is genealogy - the study of individuals descent and relationships, i.e. the family tree.
Success in understanding the family of the past comes from knowing how to use several documents in combination with each other. While genealogical research uncovers vital statistics, social history research can give details about the connecting days and months in our ancestor's lives.
Evidence from birth, marriage, death certificates and census documents will enable the researcher to unfold revelations behind the names and dates included in the family tree however it is important to prove and support this evidence when using it to write family history. Although the family tree cannot tell us why people made their decisions, it can tell us how long they lived, when they got married, how many children they had, where they lived, what work they did when and how they died. We can then beg the question how typical was this evidence on a wider scale.
Looking at a primary source of evidence such as a census only gives us a quick preview of a family at a specific period in time every 10 years from early 19th century. It does provide a basis for further investigation - we can see how the composition of the household changed over time and historians are able to reconstruct communities, household and family structures typical of that time.
The family tree represents the past in that it is a history of people only and not a description of their life and times. Evidence is gained from building up the family tree from primary sources and secondary sources connecting them to build an analysis of the past. The evidence can be embellished, drawing out more information from the primary sources by analysis, evaluation and interpretation of such evidence found for the family tree.
After the family tree has been composed from the evidence collected, it is important to show how representative the example is of a wider historical picture by putting the genealogy already studied into the context of other family histories. This will hopefully produce an added insight into the history your family and history of 'the family' in the past. You will be able to do this by studying the community where they lived, collecting information about the neighbours from census material, make judgements about what neighbouring households were like and compare birth rate and mortality patterns. Look at other peoples secondary sources to consider your own family history in a wider context.
After gaining evidence for the family tree, one should try to understand the sources and in the case of censuses, why and how they were compiled and also appreciate the limitations of what it cannot tell you about the family of the past. Also, ask the question, how reliable is the evidence? Each part must be broken down into detail, assessed as to how representative the evidence is of the period generally; sometimes guesswork is required to build this analysis of the past. An interesting way to analyse the facts already gained to further your understanding of the family in the past is to break it down by devising a list of questions about the sources, which will in turn aid in addressing the issues you are interested in. Join it all back together when all the questions are answered in a way that reveals the connections between the parts.
Although the family tree can be used to some extent to generalise about the past it must also be remembered that although these ancestors lived through a particular historical period, their lives may never have been touched by the events unfolding at that time. The family tree is extremely useful in furthering an understanding of the family in the past if combined with research from secondary sources.