Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
TECHNIQUES FOR BEHAVIORAL MEASUREMENT
Simultaneous and continuous focal sampling of all individuals in a group
might be the most accurate and informative combination of sampling and
recording, but circumstances may render this combination unattainable. Tech-
nology is at hand to help. Computer-based event-recording software provides
an automated string of actor, behavior (time), and modifiers (such as recipient
of interaction and quality of interaction). Currently, memorizing the keyboard
is the way to avoid taking one's eyes off the subjects, but voice recognition soft-
ware may soon allow input of data spoken in the correct syntax. Various soft-
ware packages already assist behavioral recording, and the most sophisticated,
such as Noldus Observer, offer a variety of tools for manipulation and basic
statistical analysis of the data and an easy Windows interface (Albonetti et al.
1992; Noldus Information Technology 1995). Noldus also performs sequen-
tial and nested analysis and allows simultaneous input from an alternative dig-
itized source (e.g., heartbeat or external temperature).
Two caveats concern widespread adoption of sophisticated software. First,
it may encourage a lazy uniformity in data acquisition that stifles innovation
in sampling and recording rules or analyses. Second, a researcher's new-found
ability to record a plethora of behavior and contexts may exceed his or her abil-
ity to frame hypotheses and manipulate and analyze the data.
There are circumstances under which video recording is an economical
alternative to direct observation and offers some unique advantages. The video
record can be played and replayed, allowing multiple passes over complex
sequences at a resolution of up to 50 frames per second. With a microphone,
complex vocalizations can be spectrographically analyzed in context (Wong et
al. 1999). The video and sound sequences may be digitized and stored using a
PC and video capture board; this allows efficient indexed archiving of raw data
and use in electronically distributed ethograms. Video can also be time-coded
and used with event recording packages to facilitate accurate data entry or even
allow automatic data entry for movement, interaction, and some simple pos-
tural categories. Video can be used to calculate interobserver and intraobserver
reliability, including the drift in ethogram categorization which often occurs in
long studies. Limited use of video in pilot studies can allow the disparity
between different behavior sampling techniques and a true continuous record
to be assessed.
In automatic field use, video allows easy habituation for many species
(including facility to use infrared light to provide illumination beyond the
visual range of most mammals). Continuous surveillance of multiple focal sites
becomes a possibility for even a single researcher, with the equipment operat-
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