The Relationship button on the Add Criteria window allows the user to add criteria based on whether the person in question has a relative (with a specified relationship) who themselves meet specific criteria.

The area in the upper left corner of the window states the search criteria as they have been constructed so far (if you have already established some criteria at this point — if not, it will be blank). This allows you to establish the relationship in its proper context within the overall search criteria by first reading the text that appears under this first area, marked with a 1), then following it directly to the second part of the window, marked with a 2), to see how it the relationship criteria will fit into your overall search's nested structure.

To specify the relationship in question, simply select the appropriate radio button. For first degree relatives, you may be more specific, if you choose, by specifying a sibling, child or parent (and even specifically mother or father). See Relationships for an explanation of first and second degree relative relationships.

After you have added the relationship portion of the criteria — for example "who have a mother" — you may add additional criteria to the query which — by properly nesting it within the relationship portion of the criteria — describes qualities the mother (or person matching that relationship) has. For example, you may construct a search for Hispanic males whose mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer (see below). In this search, because of the way the criteria is nested, the Hispanic males are the ones being returned as a result of the search, but some of the search criteria is based on information about their mother and will be based on information in the mothers' records, not actually in the Hispanic males'.