[Babase] Procedures for Incomplete Censuses

Susan Alberts babase@www.eco.princeton.edu
Wed, 3 Aug 2005 07:29:44 -0400


>I'm looking for feedback on interpolation/the interpolation
>documentation and related docs but that might be
>a phone conversation.

OK will try to get to this soon.

>>I don't know what the practice used to be but it does seem to me 
>>that this information should be put in as confirmed presence. In 
>>other words I agree with you that lack of census info in babase for 
>>5 may 99 is a mistake. Have you checked more than this one 
>>incomplete census? is this how they are generally treated?
>
>I think that census "present" should be entered for incomplete
>censues but not census "absent", from a computer perspective
>anyhow.

I should be more explicit -- for an incomplete census, the animals 
marked "present" should be entered as confirmed presence, the animals 
marked "absent"  and the animals that remain unmarked (which is the 
incomplete part of an incomplete census) should be interpolated based 
on subsequent information. In practice, it is uncommon for an animal 
to be marked absent in an incomplete census because the point is that 
you couldnp't find everyone and confirm absences in the time you had. 
However, it is also true that if a male has been missing for several 
weeks but is still on the census sheet, and they don't see him during 
an incomplete census he is probably really absent and they probably 
do mark him absent -- nonetheless with all the male coming and going 
these days it is better to err on the side of caution with the 
incomplete censuses and confirm that absences are not confirmed.

Susan
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Susan Alberts, Department of Biology, Duke University, Box 90338, 
Durham NC 27708
919-660-7272 (phone), 919-660-7293 (FAX)