It's come to my attention that many people are still using the Jtest and taking the results very seriously. Indeed, perhaps too seriously.
Also, some users are doing weird stuff with the Jtest output in an attempt to estimate their supposedly "true" Ashkenazi ancestry proportions, like multiplying their Ashkenazi coefficient by three, because Ashkenazi Jews "only" score around 30% Ashkenazi in this test. Ouch! Please don't do that!
Let me reiterate that this test was only supposed to be a fun experiment. It was never meant to be the definitive online Ashkenazi ancestry test. And even as fun experiments with ADMIXTURE go, it's now horribly outdated, and probably useless for anyone with less than 15-20% Ashkenazi ancestry.
So it might be time to move on. If you really want to confirm your Jewish ancestry, either or both Ashkenazi and Sephardi, then you need to look at much more powerful and sophisticated options. One of these options is the Global25 analysis (see HERE), which can pick up minor Jewish ancestry of just a few per cent. But it's not free (USD $12), and it's a DIY test that requires a bit of time and effort to get the most out of it. Also, you'd need to send me your autosomal file so that I can estimate your Global25 coordinates. But I can help you get started and even quickly check if you have any hope at all of confirming Jewish ancestry.
If, for whatever reason, you'd rather not take advantage of the Global25 offer, because, say, you don't want to share your data with me, then it might be an idea to join the Anthrogenica discussion board and ask the experienced members there about other options [LINK].
In any case, whatever you choose to do, please remember the following points, and feel free to share them with others who are still using the Jtest:
- do not multiply your Jtest Ashkenazi score by 3 in an attempt to find your "true" Ashkenazi ancestry proportion, because this won't work for the vast majority of users
- but do compare your Jtest Ashkenazi score to those of other people of the same or very similar ancestry to yours to get a rough idea whether you might have any Ashkenazi ancestry (the Jtest population averages will be useful for this, see here)
- if you're still not sure what your Jtest results mean, then just focus on your Jtest Oracle-4 output at GEDmatch, and if you don't see AJ at the top of the oracle list, then this is a strong signal that you don't have substantial Ashkenazi ancestry
See also...
Global25 workshop 1: that classic West Eurasian plot Global25 workshop 2: intra-European variation Global25 workshop 3: genes vs geography in Northern Europe Modeling genetic ancestry with Davidski: step by step Getting the most out of the Global25 Genetic ancestry online store (to be updated regularly)
