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familyConstellation
stellations. In algebra or set theory, the same braces would indicate a set. Using braces implies that the siblings assembled within them have not been ordered by age, but only listed by type. If we received our information about the family constellation mentioned above merely with the short form of our questionnaire, the age order of some of the person's or his parents' siblings would be unknown. We may have to symbolize it this way: f/m//(s)b {bs} /fess/s f sg} //f/m From such a questionnaire it would be impossible to tell for sure which one of the mother's sisters is married and has children and which one is unmarried. Hence we need to write the braces, although both of the mother's siblings are of the same type: both are her younger sisters. Moreover, one cannot be certain from the questionnaire which of the father's two sisters died in his early youth and which one is married. Perhaps both characteristics concern the same person. However, this is not very likely, In order to indicate this uncertainty, we could use the "or" sign in logic: v . We would have to write: f/m//(s v s)b {bs v g) /fess/s {sยง J //f/m The "or" sign binds more closely than the simple juxtaposition of sibling symbols. It always means that the two signs adjacent to the "or" sign involve Just one person. With regard to characteristics connected with the persons symbolized, one or the other or even both (or neither) may apply to the given person, and the other characteristic, or none, or both, may apply to the second person. Even if the uncertainty of information should be built into the instrument of investigation, in this case into the questionnaire which was used, the investigator should try to clarify the situation by additional inquiry. If a person has half- or stepsiblings, this can also be expressed symbolically by indices; that is, by bh or sh or by bs and Ss respectively. A stepfather whose sibling position is unknown or not re-