# Setting a goal You will soon realize that the genealogist's work is exponential and can go in all directions. So you will have to set yourself limits if you want to do a quality work. The following points are only examples of choices to be made to delimit a research perimeter that can be achieved in a lifetime. ## Whose genealogy? Define whose genealogy will be developed: - Yours - Your wife's - Your family's, starting with your children or grand children - That of a close relative - A friend's. ## Over how many generations? Define the number of generations to be identified: - All the way back to the great-grandparents - Back to Independence day, the French revolution, the first English settlers, back to William Shakespeare birth, etc. - Back to the Middle Age or William the Conqueror ## Which branches? Define branches to be identified: - All - Paternal lineage only - Maternal lineage - Specific ones ## What descendants? Define from which ancestors you wish to identify descendants and cousins : - From the highest ancestor found - From Great-grandparents - From all ancestors found ## What level of detail? Define the level of detail to be obtained for each individual - According to its generation - Systematically have the sources of all acts - Only Birth, Marriage, Death - The maximum number of events