DNA confirmation numbers

Question

Following up on a question on DNA confirmation statistics from John Kingman with the DNA Project, we've collected the following numbers which may be of interest.

There are 10.7 million Wikitree profiles with DNA information.

There are about 80,000 profiles that have one or both parents listed as Confirmed by DNA.

Of these, about 63% have DNA confirmation information provided in the profile.  No DNA basis is provided in the other profiles [Suggestion 213 and 313].

Answer 1

Than you Paul.

It is, of course, possible that some of the 213/313 errors are false, but it is also likely that there are incorrect DNA confirmation statements that should be flagged as errors. There may also be orphaned profiles with missing or incorrect DNA confirmation statements -- where would those be reported?

So it would seem that there are over 10 million unmatched DNA tests that have the potential to be matched for DNA confirmation. Why so many, I wonder.

John Kingman

Comments

In the world of DNA test matches, it is a rare thing to find another test taker who is interested in genealogy, and even rarer to find a test taker who is familiar with genealogy and tech-savvy enough to want to use WikiTree rather than one of the more user-friendly platforms.

As for providing appropriate citations for DNA-confirmation, or confirmation based on a triangulated group: well, it's not rocket science, but it's probably a steep learning curve for most.

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You may be right, but the advent of Greg Clarke's DNA Confirmation Citation Maker WikiTree app has certainly made it a lot easier to get and/or validate DNA confirmation statements. Thank you, Greg.

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John,

As in my situation, I have many DNA tested cousins on here, but most are well beyond the AuDNA limits of being able to triangulate, or are each on a different DNA testing site (not on GEDMatch or Wikitree), or some other situation. as an example, I have AT LEAST 6 individuals that I know are descended from my 4th great-grandfather, but do not share enough measurable DNA to triangulate properly (5th cousins). So it's not for a lack of looking....

And then you have those that are only interested in ethnicity.... but that's a story for another day!

Ken

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As a clarification, it turns out that the 10 million number is a count of DNA connections, not the number of DNA tested members..

The number of WikiTree members with the DNA tested badge, is currently 219,212.

Answer 2

Given:

1) Problem: bad, or non-existent, DNA-Confirmation data.

2) Cause: user indifference and/or incompetence.

3) Goals: database integrity, and DNA-confirmed relationships between profiles.

What's the solution?

1) Deletion of bad data (including malformed citations and unsupported status indications)?

2) Require self-certification for the input of DNA-Confirmation data?

3) Provide incentives for the successful entry of each type, and number, of DNA-confirmation(s)?