BCG Ethical Standards & Professional Practice — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is a key ethical responsibility of a professional genealogist?
- Withhold conflicting evidence
- Exaggerate findings for clients
- Report information honestly and accurately (Correct answer)
- Guess when records are missing
Correct answer: Report information honestly and accurately
Genealogists must present accurate, well-documented information and avoid fabricating or misrepresenting findings.
Question 2: Why must genealogists respect client confidentiality?
- To avoid answering questions
- To comply with competitive pricing
- To protect personal and sensitive data (Correct answer)
- To avoid doing extra research
Correct answer: To protect personal and sensitive data
Respecting confidentiality builds trust and protects sensitive family or personal data from misuse.
Question 3: What should a genealogist do when evidence contradicts their initial conclusion?
- Ignore the new evidence
- Stick to original claims
- Adjust conclusions based on the evidence (Correct answer)
- Delete conflicting data
Correct answer: Adjust conclusions based on the evidence
Ethical standards require researchers to revise conclusions based on all available, credible evidence.
Question 4: What is plagiarism in genealogical work?
- Correctly citing a source
- Quoting historical texts
- Using someone else’s work without credit (Correct answer)
- Linking to public archives
Correct answer: Using someone else’s work without credit
Plagiarism occurs when a researcher uses someone else’s work or ideas without proper citation.
Question 5: Why is continuing education important for professional genealogists?
- To qualify for tax breaks
- To learn ancient languages
- To keep up with evolving best practices (Correct answer)
- To build a personal family tree
Correct answer: To keep up with evolving best practices
Continual learning ensures genealogists stay current with methods, standards, and available resources.
Question 6: How should genealogists handle uncertain or incomplete data?
- Hide it from the report
- Speculate to fill gaps
- Clearly disclose limitations (Correct answer)
- Replace it with assumptions
Correct answer: Clearly disclose limitations
They should clearly state limitations, avoiding speculation and ensuring readers understand gaps in the data.
BCG Ethical Standards & Professional Practice
What is a key ethical responsibility of a professional genealogist?