[Babase] comments on documentation for Parts and Interact

Karl O. Pinc kop at meme.com
Fri Feb 29 03:52:52 EST 2008


On 02/23/2008 04:42:25 PM, Susan Alberts wrote:
> HI Karl et al.,
> 
> I read the parts of the documentation that Karl indicated, concering  
> ad lib versus all-occurrences data. Comments below.
> 
> Comment: I suggest that you replace the first paragraph below with  
> the second one. The differences are not many but I hope the second is  
> clearer.

Done, but then I went back and cleaned up.  (I.e. having 2 semicolons
in a sentence was not so good.)

> 
> Remove this:
> 
> Many rules surrounding INTERACT_DATA's values are closely tied to the  
> project's data collection protocols. There are two general sorts of  
> data on behavioral events: all-occurrences data and ad-libitum data.  
> All occurrences data are collected only during focal animal samples.  
> They are data on all the occurrences of a particular behavior or  
> interaction during a given time interval and/or involving a  
> participating focal individual.[56] Ad-libitum data are data that are  
> collected opportunistically at the will of the observer; we do not  
> assume that ad lib data captures all the occurrences of a given  
> behavior. Although some ad-libitum data is collected during focal  
> animal sampling most is not. All occurrences data have an  
> INTERACT_DATA.Sid that is not NULL. Ad-libitum data have a NULL Sid  
> value (i.e., it was not collected during a focal animal sample). Some  
> sorts of interactions are only collected using certain protocols.  
> Approach (ACTS.Class = P), and request to groom (ACTS.Class = R)  
> interactions are only collected during all-occurrences sampling;  
> these must have a non-NULL Sid. Although consortship and mount[57]  
> information is collected as all-occurrences data during focal point  
> samples that information, along with ejaculation information, is  
> never reflected in INTERACT_DATA because, presumably, there will  
> always be a INTERACT_DATA row for the consortship, mount, or  
> ejaculation from the ad-libitum sample data collection. So, in  
> Babase, consortships (ACTS.Class = C), mounts (ACTS.Class = M), and  
> ejaculation (ACTS.Class = E) rows always have a NULL Sid.
> 
> Insert this:
> Many rules surrounding INTERACT_DATA's values are closely tied to the  
> project's data collection protocols. There are two sorts of data  
> collected on behavioral interactions: all-occurrences data and  
> ad-libitum data. All occurrences data are collected only during focal  
> animal samples. They are data on all the occurrences of a particular  
> behavior or interaction during a given time interval and/or involving  
> a participating focal individual.[56] All occurrences data will  
> always have an INTERACT_DATA.Sid that is not NULL. Ad-libitum data  
> are data that are collected opportunistically at the will of the  
> observer; we do not assume that ad lib data capture all the  
> occurrences of a given behavior. Ad-libitum data, which generally are  
> not collected as part of focal animal samples, have a NULL Sid value  
> (i.e., they were not collected during a focal animal sample and hence  
> have no Sid). Some sorts of interactions are only collected during  
> focal sampling and not as ad libitum data outside of focal samples.  
> Approach (ACTS.Class = P), and request to groom (ACTS.Class = R)  
> interactions are examples of this; they are only collected during  
> all-occurrences sampling; these must have a non-NULL Sid. Although  
> consortship and mount[57] data are collected as all-occurrences data  
> during focal point samples, these data are also collected,  
> simultaneously and in more detail, in ad libitum notes. Consequently,  
> they appear in INTERACT_DATA as ad libitum data, not as all  
> occurrences data, and in Babase, consortships (ACTS.Class = C),  
> mounts (ACTS.Class = M), and ejaculation (ACTS.Class = E) rows always  
> have a NULL Sid.
> 
> Two paragraphs below that, I suggest replacing this paragraph:The  
> columns of this table that contain times, Start and Stop, are stored  
> using a data type that has a precision of 1 second. The Amboseli  
> Baboon Research Project Monitoring Guide must be consulted regarding  
> the precision and accuracy of the data itself. It is expected that  
> ad-libitum data is entered with a 1 minute precision.[58]  
> Consequently the seconds portion of the time value must always be 0  
> when Sid is NULL. All-occurrences interaction data (Sid is not NULL)  
> does contain seconds.[59]
> 
> With this one:
> The columns of this table that contain times, Start and Stop, are  
> stored using a data type that has a precision of 1 second. The  
> Amboseli Baboon Research Project Monitoring Guide must be consulted  
> regarding the precision and accuracy of these data. It is expected  
> that ad-libitum data are entered with a 1 minute precision.[58]  
> Consequently the seconds portion of the time value must always be 0  
> when Sid is NULL. All-occurrences interaction data (Sid is not NULL)  
> do contain seconds.[59]

Done.

> 
> Also note that throughout it will be good, at some point, to do a  
> global replace of "data is" with "data are", "data that is" with  
> "data that are", "data was" with "data were", etc., to keep  
> consistent with the fact that "data" is a plural word.

Done, although I don't guarantee I covered every case.

(I've had this discussion with Jeanne.  Data is no longer plural
in computerland.)

> 
> I also read through Samples and several other Psion sections, and it  
> looks good. I did not do an exhaustive read. But I think I've done  
> all you requested, Karl, pending my input on MPI documentation, will  
> I will not keep on my list for before I leave for Kenya (5 Mar).

:-(


Karl <kop at meme.com>
Free Software:  "You don't pay back, you pay forward."
                  -- Robert A. Heinlein



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