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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: chiddicks on Wednesday 17 January 18 16:52 GMT (UK)
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Over the next few weeks I hope to post a regular blog on my personal DNA experience from a complete novice perspective. From choosing the test, the test itself, the results and what to do next.
Hopefully if you new like me this might help you with choices, interpreting your results and ultimately what to do with them.
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DNA Testing - The Revolution (1) https://chiddicksfamilytree.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/dna-testing-the-revolution/ via @chiddickstree
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Choosing a DNA test (2) https://chiddicksfamilytree.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/choosing-a-dna-test-2/ via @chiddickstree
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The DNA Test Itself (3) https://chiddicksfamilytree.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/the-dna-test-itself-3/ via @chiddickstree
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My DNA results are in!!!
86% British could I possibly be anymore British??
My DNA Results are in!! (4) https://chiddicksfamilytree.wordpress.com/2018/02/03/my-dna-results-are-in/ via @chiddickstree
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Interesting. My reaction to your reply #3 and blog no. 3 - I doubt I'd have enough saliva!
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It’s less than a teaspoon
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I'm looking into DNA tests, and wanted to say thanks for the links to your blog. I followed the first link and enjoyed your Revolution article, so I head off to read the next in the series and all these other posts appear like magic all about really interesting things, so I'm starting your blog from the beginning, looks like a good read, thanks!
Laura
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Thank you so much for the kind compliments it’s much appreciated. I am glad that you have enjoyed reading my blogs and hopefully you will find them interesting.
Good luck with your research
Paul
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Just marking this page :) for reference
xin
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Thank you for your blog Paul. I have found it very informative and it has answered a number of questions I have about doing a DNA test.
What I found most interesting was your results which gave your ethenticity breakdown as 86% British and then broke this down further to Southern England, Scotland etc.
This is exactly what I would be looking for. My paternal line were originally from Ireland with 1 Scottish gg grandfather (all proven by records and other family members) My late mother's family were all from Scotland (again proven as above) except for her father who I believe may have been from England. This is the area I would like to prove/disprove.
May I assume that the Ancestry DNA Test could possibly give me the breakdown I am looking for ? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dorrie
P.S. I am going to be away now until Friday
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I am getting impatient waiting... :(
xin
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May I assume that the Ancestry DNA Test could possibly give me the breakdown I am looking for ? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
No it will not. In truth autosomal DNA tests do not tell you your ethnic inheritance. Don't believe me do the same test with several different companies and you will get several different results.
The way the tests work is to take your DNA and compare them with sample populations they have. There are a number of problems with this, first some of the samples are very small, second different companies use different sample populations and third no one can unequivocally say any of the sample populations are correct.
In truth the DNA companies rely on peoples ignorance of the subject when taking the tests. Whilst what you get may amuse you it should be treated as no more than a bit of fun. It is certainly not scientific fact. This has been covered in many of the threads on here before as well as on other sites should you want to search them out
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Thank you for your reply davidft it has given me food for thought and maybe what I am actually looking for from a DNA test is impossible - a breakdown of my British/Irish ethenticity.
Dorrie
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Does the 86% perhaps suggest that your Irish and Italian heritage comes from British people who established themselves in those countries further back?
Martin
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Does the 86% perhaps suggest that your Irish and Italian heritage comes from British people who established themselves in those countries further back?
Martin
My mother was under the impression that her maternal grandmother's people were Irish. Through documented evidence I found out that they were settled in Lancashire, England since 16thC and probably well before. However legend has it that the area was settled by Vikings/Norsemen expelled from Ireland by High King Brian Boru (died 1014 at Battle of Clontarf, fighting Vikings). So my mother was wrong and possibly right as well about her grandmother's people coming from Ireland. She thought there was a military link; she imagined smart army uniforms rather than horned helmets and battle-axes. (OK the horned helmets might be another myth.) ;D Some of her father's people were also in that part of Lancashire in 1500s. If I did a DNA test I would expect to find some Scandinavian input. Given that my mother's ancestors married various degrees of cousins for several hundred years I'd be interested to know whether that would concentrate or dilute the suspected Scandinavian content. ???
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What I found most interesting was your results which gave your ethenticity breakdown as 86% British and then broke this down further to Southern England, Scotland etc.
This is exactly what I would be looking for. My paternal line were originally from Ireland with 1 Scottish gg grandfather (all proven by records and other family members) My late mother's family were all from Scotland (again proven as above) except for her father who I believe may have been from England. This is the area I would like to prove/disprove.
May I assume that the Ancestry DNA Test could possibly give me the breakdown I am looking for ? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Dorrie
P.S. I am going to be away now until Friday
I have access to kits at Ancestry that don't break it down into such specific regions at all. They're probably too mixed to be able to separate it out.
If that's what you're after LivingDNA might suit you better, or you could choose parents from the same part of Britain so you're not very diverse.
Someone whose been looking at DNA for a while would be better placed to answer your questions.
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Tagged your post so I can follow your journey. I hope to get a DNA kit this coming weekend if my relatives took my hint about a suitable present. Fingers crossed.
Panda
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Lots of good information coming through on here and there are tons of blogs and online guides which are helpful and useful.
I would always suggest taking another test with another company and also uploading your raw data to as many different places as possible especially if you hope to match with distant cousins, which is one of my reasons for taking a test.
There are some very good tips and hints here
https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/expert-blogs/guest-blog-dna-and-genealogy
https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/dna-testing/autosomal-dna-transfers-summary-of-which-companies-accept-which-tests
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DNA The Next Step (5) https://chiddicksfamilytree.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/dna-the-next-step-5/ via @chiddickstree
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May I assume that the Ancestry DNA Test could possibly give me the breakdown I am looking for ? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
No it will not. In truth autosomal DNA tests do not tell you your ethnic inheritance. Don't believe me do the same test with several different companies and you will get several different results.
The way the tests work is to take your DNA and compare them with sample populations they have. There are a number of problems with this, first some of the samples are very small, second different companies use different sample populations and third no one can unequivocally say any of the sample populations are correct.
In truth the DNA companies rely on peoples ignorance of the subject when taking the tests. Whilst what you get may amuse you it should be treated as no more than a bit of fun. It is certainly not scientific fact. This has been covered in many of the threads on here before as well as on other sites should you want to search them out
I wish I had studied and studied every single for and against on Roots before I went ahead and wasted £99.00 on this dna malarky... it has shown me this as my ethnicity !!! How is that possible when on most branches of my tree and I can provide more info on this.. I link back to Scotland - Cornwall - and other UK places up to the late 1700's WHAT !!!
xin
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The ethnicity estimates are at best a guide. The key is to look at Cm values and matches rather than the ethnicity estimate.
The percentage will only ever be a percentage of the database so will be biased because of that.
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The ethnicity estimates are at best a guide.
No they are not they are just guesses that is why you can get quite different results from different companies using the same data. Still if you want to be a snake oil salesman carry on but all you are doing is leading people to future disappointment.
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I wish I had studied and studied every single for and against on Roots before I went ahead and wasted £99.00 on this dna malarky... it has shown me this as my ethnicity !!! How is that possible when on most branches of my tree and I can provide more info on this.. I link back to Scotland - Cornwall - and other UK places up to the late 1700's WHAT !!!
I, and many others, know how you feel but chin up the raw data behind the results is sound and can be used for "relatives" matching if you have close matches. Trying to match at 4th cousin or higher level though is a hard slog for most. Good luck and hope you get something out of the results in the future.
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I have corrected a couple of small errors on my previous blogs and have updated them.
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I said they were a guide
The ethnicity estimates are at best a guide.
No they are not they are just guesses that is why you can get quite different results from different companies using the same data. Still if you want to be a snake oil salesman carry on but all you are doing is leading people to future disappointment.
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I said they were a guide
The ethnicity estimates are at best a guide.
No they are not they are just guesses that is why you can get quite different results from different companies using the same data. Still if you want to be a snake oil salesman carry on but all you are doing is leading people to future disappointment.
I know you did and I said they were not and explained why.
So if they are a guide how can the same data interpreted by two different companies give quite different results, as sometimes happens? Oh and that is before companies "update" their analyses and your supposed ethnicity changes quite significantly.
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The percentage is based upon the percentage within that companies database that’s why each result will be different.
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Hundreds of good blogs on the topic of ethnicity estimates
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The percentage is based upon the percentage within that companies database that’s why each result will be different.
I am sorry but in my opinion you do not know what you are talking about.
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Hundreds of good blogs on the topic of ethnicity estimates
In my opinion it might be a good idea if you read a few of them before imparting your alleged wisdom on the subject. This may be harsh but the way I see it your posts can seriously lead people astray and encourage them to spend money they would not otherwise do.
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The percentage is based upon the percentage within that companies database that’s why each result will be different.
Not sure what you mean but...
Your sample, for ethnic regions purposes, is compared to company stock samples. It is NOT compared to a database the company holds from its other customers. You are not being compared (for ethnicity) to everyone else.
The company population 'region/ethnic' stock samples can be very small, as few as less than a dozen samples for a region in some cases.
How can they possibly know the difference between ancestors from England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Northern France, Belgium and Demmark from hundreds of years ago, when they only compare your sample to a few dozen other 'stock' samples? And all these places shared more or less the same ethnicity, Western European, anyway?
A more honest ethnicity result would say something like
'Your ethnic origin is 85% North Western European, 15% uncertain'
But they wouldn't sell as many tests that way, especially in the huge American market
The whole 'ethnicity' percent side of it is a rip off and people are spending money, money they might need for other things. £100 is a lot to fork out in one go for a lot of people.
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Ok I used the incorrect terminology when I said the database what sally said is correct.
Not sure why your taking that tone David I’m offering no pearls of wisdom on the subject the clue is in the title “newbie”.
I’m offering an experience of my testing from start to finish.
People test for whatever reason they choose. As a genealogist the matches are the key thing for me the ethnicity is not important.
To test solely for an ethnicity estimate does seem a pointless exercise to me. Surely you would want to test to match with others????
I’m not trying to sell anything just explain my approach that’s all and yes I’m still learning....
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Davidft,
"In my opinion it might be a good idea if you read a few of them before imparting your alleged wisdom on the subject. This may be harsh but the way I see it your posts can seriously lead people astray and encourage them to spend money they would not otherwise do."
Let's try and keep these pages friendly :)
It is up to any individual purchasing a DNA test to read up about exactly what it will give them before purchasing. If they take what Ancestry and other sellers say about ethnicity reports they are likely in for a big shock when their results come back, they are not what DNA tests do best, and they should not be sold as such.
My advice to anyone considering buying a test kit is to read about it from as many points of view as possible, from the chiddicks of this world, to the ISOGG pages, to the excellent articles in Lost Cousins newsletters, and a number of others I haven't mentioned.
Regards Margaret
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Let's try and keep these pages friendly :)
It is up to any individual purchasing a DNA test to read up about exactly what it will give them before purchasing. If they take what Ancestry and other sellers say about ethnicity reports they are likely in for a big shock when their results come back, they are not what DNA tests do best, and they should not be sold as such.
Hi Sugarfizzle
Thank you for your post.
I admit I was frustrated by chiddick's post and that led me to be less than diplomatic. Truth is in my opinion his "blog" does not add anything that has not be said 100 times before on this site, and usually in a more informative way. Still that said I have decided to give his thread a miss in future and for anyone else reading it, it will be a case of caveat emptor !
Regarding your point that it is up to the individual purchasing the test to make themselves fully aware what they are signing up to. Whilst I agree with this we know from reading the posts on here that a lot do not do that, they don't even read the help pages on the sites from which they have purchased the test. Given that, that is why I took so strongly against chiddick's posts (which can be misleading and downright wrong IMO) but on reflection its not by job to police them and if people get misled by them then that unfortunately is their lookout.
David
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No problem I’ll happily not post anymore on the subject.
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please dont fall out..
I will feel guilty :(
xin
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Well I've found it interesting. I was attracted to this thread because of the title. I ignore most DNA topics on here because they baffle me with science.
I'm not considering DNA testing, I'm just interested in learning about it. If I was considering it I would do lots of research and seek advice before purchasing, like with any other expensive item.
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interesting thread ..glad to have opinions of a newbie
I still havent worked out how to transfer my aNCESTRY DNA RESULTSor my mother,s TO Another format to increase chance of links
awaiting paternal aunts results
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Easy, brigidmac.
Go to DNA page
Go to Settings, top right
Download DNA raw data, top right
Enter password, ancestry will send an email
Follow instructions sent with email
Do not open zip file
Upload to Gedmatch, ftDNA etc.
For ftDNA you will need a work around, go to
http://www.mapmy23.com/tools/ancestry_ftdna_fix.php
Hope this helps
Regards Margaret
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thanks margaret you make it sound easy but i'll only attempt when my computer guy is by my side