Data and Database FAQs

On this page, we attempt to compile a list of answers to frequently asked questions from Babase users. This page is a living document, and will be updated regularly. If you feel like an important FAQ has been omitted, please make a suggestion to a data manager or project leader!

How do I know when a group fission begins and ends?

During fission periods, daily group membership is in flux. An individual may be censused in a daughter group one day, the parent group the next, and another daughter group the following day. During these times, many of our common calculations and measurements (e.g. group size, social networking calculations, maybe even ranks) can be performed but they may not be biologically meaningful. Because of this, when gathering data for an analysis we often exclude data during fission periods.

To exclude fission periods, use the GROUPS_HISTORY view. Remember, nearly every group's lifetime is flanked by fission periods: the fission that created the group and the fission that dissolved it. The time between these periods, when a group is 'permanent' and not fissioning, is likely the time period that you want to retain for your analyses. This time begins on the group's "Permanent" date (when the 'creating' fission ends), and ends on the "Impermanent" date (when the 'dissolving' fission begins).

So for example, if you have a table (or subquery) called "mydata" that includes a "date" and "grp" column, you might exclude fission periods with a query like this:

SELECT mydata.*
  FROM mydata
  JOIN groups_history
    ON groups_history.gid = mydata.grp
       AND groups_history.permanent <= mydata.date
       AND (groups_history.impermanent >= mydata.date
            OR groups_history.impermanent IS NULL) -- For groups that haven't fissioned yet

How do I determine proportional ranks?

Use the PROPORTIONAL_RANKS view!

How do I know when an individual is an "adult"?

For females, this is indicated in MATUREDATES. Males have mature dates as well--these indicate testicular enlargement--but usually this is not truly when a male becomes an "adult". In most of our analyses, the date the male first attained rank over adult males (in RANKDATES) is a better indicator of when a male is truly "adult".

If you're unsure which date to use for males, talk with your PI about which measurement would be more appropriate for your project. The answer is usually "rank date", so be prepared to discuss why testicular enlargement is especially important or relevant to whatever question(s) your project is investigating.