Kurt Aland (1979, 43) favors a type of textual criticism that he calls the local-genealogical method. He defines it as follows:
NEW TESTAMENT TEXTUAL STUDIES: The Aland’s Local-Genealogical Method
Kurt Aland (1915 – 1994) New Testament Textual Criticism Scholar
Kurt Aland, FBA (28 March 1915 – 13 April 1994) was a German theologian and biblical scholar who specialized in New Testament textual criticism.
Kurt and Barbara Aland Categories of New Testament Manuscripts
New Testament manuscripts in Greek are categorized into five groups, according to a scheme introduced in 1981 by Kurt and Barbara Aland in The text of the New Testament. The categories are based on how each manuscript relates to the various text-types.
Gregory-Aland Numbering System for the Greek New Testament Manuscripts
Caspar René Gregory published a cataloging system for the Greek New Testament manuscripts in 1908. In 1963, Kurt Aland expanded Gregory's work, and the Gregory-Aland (GA) numbers became the industry standard for referencing Greek New Testament manuscripts.