Question

I absolutely do not know where to start with dna matching

Comments

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:DNA_Help

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:DNA_Matches

Answer 1

Another good book for practical use is Diahan Southard's book Your DNA Guide, The Book. It is available through her website and internet sources. She explains step by step what to do with all those matches. She also has some short videos to explain different aspects of organizing matches depending on which company you have used for testing.

Comments

Thank You!

Answer 2

Blaine Bettinger’s book, Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy is a good place to start. It should be in most brick & mortar bookstores, and is readily available online.

Comments

I do not agree that Bettinger's book is a good place to start.  It is if you already have some experience interpreting DNA data, but it did not help me know where to start with specifics of what to do with the data.  Would love a better suggestion for a very simple approach.

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Thank you!

Answer 3

Honestly, I would just say start reading about the DNA tools here on wikitree, they do a pretty good job explaining.  Use the DNA Confirmation Citation Maker app to understand what matches can be used to shore up your family tree, and browse questions on g2g to see great explanations from members on common questions.

Answer 4

I think Roberta Estes' blog is a good place to start.  Maybe this article,

https://dna-explained.com/2021/08/10/announcing-dna-beginnings-a-new-series/

or look thru her index down the right hand side of the page

Answer 5

Rootstech has had some good webinars: https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/series/what-to-do-with-your-dna-test-results-in-2022

Answer 6

Hello, welcome to genetic genealogy.  It is quite fun and there are a lot of ways to research.

For starters try to identify the most recent common ancestor of a few of your close matches.

The dna research really goes hand in hand with traditional genealogy research.

I have been using the yourDNA.family computer program since last year.  It helps organize dna matches from 23andMe.  Using the program in tandem with the dnapainter.com website has really helped me learn more about my genetic history.  Basically it helps research by each dna segment that has cousin matches.  You may find closer cousins but also have some more distant ones in the group as well.  

Good luck!

Answer 7

Don't read more stuff - just 'do' what you think is interesting. For instance, if you're looking for long lost cousins or a birth family follow the autosomal DNA test folks' advice, if you're interested in your surname or paternal line then do SNP testing, etc. It's your choice really.

Answer 8

Your profile shows that you took a DNA test at Myheritage. I think that they only do autosomal DNA tests. I added the tag "autosomal" to your question.

Your profile also shows a Y-DNA test, but you did not enter a haplogroup. That makes me wonder if you had a Y-DNA test. If you had one, you would have a haplogroup to report. As a male, you have a Y chromosome, but you may not have had a Y-DNA test.