[Babase] Protocols for data entry in BaBase Demog Notes Table
Catherine Markham
babase@www.eco.princeton.edu
Fri, 29 Jul 2005 09:02:19 -0400
Hi Susan and Leah,
Jeanne, Karl, and I recently met to discuss updating the protocols for
entering data in the Demography Notes Table. Revisions seemed necessary
given the changes to the interpolation program in the new system.
Below is a draft of the revised protocols for review when you get a chance.
Thanks,
Catherine
Demography Notes Table
The primary objective for adding information to the Demography Notes
Table is to capture census-related information that otherwise would not
appear in the Census Table and the Members Table. Accordingly, the
Demography Notes Table typically does not include information redundant
with the study group censuses or attempt to manually interpolate an
animal’s placement in Group 9.0 (“unknown group”).
General guidelines for entering records in the Demography Notes Table:
Each record in the Demography Notes Table contains information linking a
named individual with a group ID on a specified date. Upon update, the
Demography Notes Table adds records directly to the Census Table and,
consequently, affects how the Members Table is generated.
The three sources of information usually referenced when entering
records into the Demography Notes Table are:
1. Field demography notes in each of the study group notebooks
2. Other group notes in each of the study group notebooks
3. Comments or censusing of known individuals in a non-study group in
the other groups notebook
It is important to keep in mind that not all notes appearing in the
sources above merit a record in the Demography Notes Table. For
example, the following types of field notes are not relevant to the
Demography Notes Table:
1. Field demography notes providing general comments about the study
group or miscellaneous occurrences in the field. (Not relevant because
records in the Demography Notes Table are specific to a single, named
individual.)
2. Non-study group censuses that record general information on the
count of the different sexes or age classes present (i.e. sub-adult
male, brown infant, or adult female. (Not relevant because records in
the Demography Notes Table are specific to a single, named individual.)
3. Field demography notes providing a verbal descriptive of the field
census data (i.e. WAM with Omo’s group today or ORI not seen in Linda’s
group today). (Not relevant because the information is automatically
captured in the study-group census.)
With regard to record entry, remember that multiple notes pertaining to
a particular individual on a given date should be combined into a single
entry. Notes referring to more than one individual must appear
separately for each individual (i.e. one entry per individual).
Some examples of commonly entered records in the Demography Table Notes
follow. Note that this list is by no means exhaustive and record entry
should not be limited solely to these scenarios.
“Alone” observations – Include a record in the Demography Notes Table
for a day an animal is observed alone (Group 10.0). For example,
“Liberty was observed alone today.”
Other group notes – Include a record in the Demography Notes Table for
any references in the “Other Group Notes” section of the monitoring
notebooks that identify a named baboon. For example, “OGN: Godot seen
in Ositeti's group.”
Visits – Include a record in the Demography Notes Table for a day an
animal “visits” a group. Observations that qualify as visits include
cases where the individual was present in a group either (1) after the
group had already been censused that day or (2) the individual was
already censused as present in another group that same day. In either
case, the baboon should not be listed as present in the Members and
Census tables in the group it visited. The group associated with the
record will be the group where the animal was censused (if applicable)
or the group where the interpolation program places the animal - it
should not be the group the animal visited. Text for the record row in
the Demography Notes Table should read, for example, “Liberty visited
Omo’s group today but was censused in Viola’s group.”