How to conduct behavioral research - lecture notes
Steps Involved in Conducting a Behavioral Research Study
1. Formulate a research question
2. Conduct reconnaissance observations
3. Construct an ethogram
4. Choose a sampling method
5. Collect data
6. Analyze data - run statistical analysis
7. Interpret and communicate results
8. Formulate new research question based on results
Commonly used resource:
"Measuring Behaviour, an introductory guide", 2nd edition
authors: Paul Martin and Patrick Bateson
Types of Studies
 Observational
o variables not manipulated, behavior correlated with environmental variables,
"natural experiments"
 Experimental
o variables are systematically varied by experimenter
Reconnaissance Observations
 what do the animals do
 time of day best suited
 recording techniques
Ethogram Construction
 A list of defined behaviors that can be quantified and easily recognized by different
observers (observer reliability/repeatability)
 Objective definitions describe behavior, e.g.., "Locomotion"
 Functional definitions define behavior in terms of its function, e.g.,“searching, playing"
 Mutually exclusive (often)
 Comprehensive (often)
Example: Elephant Ethogram
Interaction
Physical contact between two elephants
Walk
Quadrupedal locomotion more than 3 ft in previous 5 secs.
Run
Fast walk
Stand still
Standing stationary on all four legs, less than 3 ft of movement in previous 5 secs.
Eat
Consuming food item, includes conveying food item from to mouth
Drink
Consuming water
Explore
touch trunk to inanimate object
Social
Any physical contact between elephants
Other
describe
Out of sight
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How to conduct behavioral research - lecture notes
Measures of Behavior
 Latency, Frequency, Duration, Intensity
 Events & States
 Bouts
 Sequence
Choosing a Sampling Method
Two major decisions to make:
 Which subject to watch & when
o Ad Libitum
o Focal
o Scan
o Behavior Sampling
 How to record the behavior
o Continuous
o Time sampling
o Instantaneous Point Sampling
o One-Zero
Recording Medium
 Film/Video
 Tape recorder
 Check Sheets
 Computer (PC, lap-top, palm)
Check Sheet Design
 Simple
 Include catch all categories such as:
o Out of sight
o Other
 Date, Observer, Weather, Notes
 Summation columns
Data Collection
 How much to collect?
o Variability
o Generalisability
 Duration of observations
o Observer fatigue/reliability
 Inter-Observer reliability
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How to conduct behavioral research - lecture notes
Sources of Unreliability
 Inter Observer Reliability - different observers recording different things
 Intra-Observer Reliability - same observer records behaviors differently over "observer
drift"
 Record what you see (not what you want to see or have seen)
 Observer fatigue
Reliability can be increased by
 Good, simple ethogram
 Observer training
 Observer testing
 Fewer observers
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