In my ongoing quest to gain a better understanding of the world of genetic genealogy (which I like to condense to “genetealogy”), I recently conducted a brief survey. A whopping 1,237 people were kind enough to participate and help me satisfy my curiosity, so I thought I would reciprocate by sharing the results.

Survey Summary
The survey asked three multiple-choice questions:

1. How would you describe your participation in genetic genealogy?

(a) Have not done it and am not interested
(b) Am “getting smart” about it to decide whether to try it
(c) Will likely try it within the next 6 months
(d) Have taken (or sponsored/facilitated) one DNA test
(e) Have taken (or sponsored/facilitated) more than one DNA test
(f) Am an active participant in a DNA project, but do not manage it
(g) Manage a DNA project

 

 

 

 

2. If you have not participated in genetic genealogy, which of the following explain why?

(a) Don't understand it yet
(b) Not sure it would help my genealogical research
(c) Concerned about privacy
(d) Too expensive
(e) Other

 

 

 

 

3. If you have participated in genetic genealogy, which kind of test(s) have you taken (or sponsored/facilitated)?

(a) Y-DNA
(b) mtDNA
(c) DNAPrint/BioGeographical
(d) African Ancestry
(e) Native American Ancestry
(f) Other Ethnic (Cohanim, Tribes of Britain, etc.)
(g) Other

Aside from these questions, the only other queries concerned gender and years of experience with genealogy (less than 1 year, 1-5 years, 5-10 years, 10-20 years, more than 20 years), so I could see if either of these seemed to influence the answers to the three main questions.

Participation in Genetic Genealogy
I think it's no secret that I'm a proponent of genetealogy, but I have to admit that even I was surprised at the tale the numbers told: 25.4 percent of those responding have already made the leap! Roughly 11 percent are fairly new on board and have taken or sponsored a single test, while another 14.4 percent are already on their second test or more deeply involved. Presumably, those already using DNA testing to pursue their roots were more likely to be interested in this survey, so there is undoubtedly a degree of bias. But even factoring this in, I never would have anticipated finding that one in four had already jumped in.

More impressive than this, though, were the numbers that indicate what's coming. 57.3 percent claimed to be “getting smart” about it, while 9.6 percent expect to take the plunge within the next six months. This is good news for all of us. Just as with conventional genealogy, the more who participate, the easier it becomes for each of us to find others who share common ancestors (not to mention, research buddies for our future sleuthing efforts!).

Reasons for Non-Participation
Since I frequently lecture on this topic (and have been doing so for several years), I am often people's first exposure to genetic genealogy. And because of this, I have repeatedly heard a handful of reasons for reluctance to participate. What I didn't have a good sense of, though, was which concerns were the most widespread.

This mini-survey revealed that the number one reason for non-participation is simply that folks aren't sure it would help their genealogical research. 34 percent gave this response, but close on its heels with 31.7 percent was “too expensive.” Fortunately, costs have been coming down, and many eventually discover than an investment in DNA testing can save years of research effort, so I would expect this figure to go down if I were to repeat this survey in another year or two.

21.2 percent said they didn't understand it yet, while 11.2 percent noted privacy concerns. Wedged in between these two responses were 13.5 percent who gave other reasons. This was a considerable figure, so I took a closer look at the comments. I was intrigued to discover a strong theme running through the majority of them--the challenges involved in finding and convincing someone else to take a test.

Women in particular have an extra hurdle when it comes to the popular Y-DNA test. Since women don't have a Y-chromosome, they have to find a male relative to take the test on their behalf--perhaps a father, brother, uncle, or cousin, or a more distant relative, such as a third cousin once removed. I've had an easy time of this, simply turning to my father, but that's apparently not the case for all women!

Even men who want to test a specific hypothesis or branch of their family tree can encounter this same difficulty. I'd like to think that as genetealogy becomes more widely known, this issue will diminish, but, in the meantime, I'd love to hear suggestions from those who have been successful in talking others into testing on their behalf (if I get enough useful examples, I'll share them in a future article).

Which Test?
It certainly was no surprise that the Y-DNA test is by far the most popular. Of those who have taken at least one test, 57 percent took the Y-chromosome test. I was startled, however, to see that 20.8 percent had taken an mtDNA test. While I had expected mtDNA to come in second place, I hadn't anticipated quite this high a number. “Other” came in third place (12.1 percent), and when I inspected the comments, I saw that many had participated in the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation's study (www.smgf.org). Bringing up the rear were DNAPRint (6.6 percent), Native American Ancestry (2.2 percent), and Other Ethnic (1.4 percent).

Experience and Gender
Having looked at the broad results, I then took a closer look to see if there were any discernable patterns in terms of years of genealogical experience or gender. There seemed to be virtually no correlation between experience and involvement, as the figures mostly hovered in the same neighborhoods regardless of how many years one had been on the ancestral trail. It did catch my attention, though, that nine of the thirty-three respondents who have been doing genealogy for less than a year have already taken a test or otherwise participated. This is an admittedly small sample, but it seems to support my belief that in the future, taking a DNA test will be the first step for many genealogical “newbies.”

Gender did reveal some interesting differences with men (39.8 percent) being much more likely to have actually already participated than women (18.6 percent). And while only 6.7 percent of men indicated they weren't interested, 16 percent of women felt this way. Also, women were almost twice as likely to be concerned about privacy (13.1 percent vs. 7.2 percent) and slightly more price-conscious (33.7 percent vs. 25.9 percent).

Of course, much of this can probably be explained by the fact that women can't take a Y-DNA test themselves, but I also happen to know from an earlier survey I conducted that women are much more likely to be involved in multiple DNA projects (apparently, once we get involved, we tend to be pretty enthusiastic and explore several branches of our family trees).

A Few More Questions
I greatly enjoyed this opportunity to take a peek into people's views about genetic genealogy and share them with you, and I would like to try this again, if you're game! If you have a minute or two to spare, please click here for a new survey--this time focusing on motivations for your genealogical quest. Thanks to each and every one of you for humoring me and my insatiable curiosity!

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, co-author (with Ann Turner) of the recently released Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree (as well as In Search of Our Ancestors, Honoring Our Ancestors and They Came to America), can be contacted through www.genetealogy.com and www.honoringourancestors.com.

Details and links to upcoming events can be found at www.honoringourancestors.com/schedule.html.

Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com.