Constructing an Ethogram

  This is an ethogram. The size of the behavior boxes and arrows is proportional to the number of times a behavior was observed.

• The data set for this laboratory was generated using this video sequence (right-click to download)
• The video was analyzed using Video Analysis for Windows. Get that here.
• A tutorial for using Video Analysis for Windows is here.
• The data were then input into Timeline. Get Timeline.
• You also need a paint program. I use Paintshop Pro. You can get a time-limited copy here. NOTE: If you are not used to using a paint program you can also do this by cutting out paper and arranging those instead.

This the the sequence of behaviors that were observed for the meerkat video. Your results may vary since each pair of students chose their own behavior names. You can get the original Excel file here. This data set needs a little work.

The only data we need for this set are those in the behavior column. So copy that column and paste into a new spreadsheet.

We don't need the first row. Get rid of it.

Behavior names such as "Walk tail down" are very descriptive. However, these names might get clipped during analysis. So, use the Find and Replace function to re-name the behaviors:

• Walk tail down WalkTD
• Lay body down head up LayBD-HU
• Lay body and head down LayBD-HD
• etc.

When you replace all the name, then save the file as a text file with a ".dta" extension. You can get the data set here.

Open the data set using Timeline.

• Working with the tables from left to right you have the counts for each of the observed behaviors. NOTE: the counts are NOT sorted. You'll need to do that in Excel. You'll use these data.

• The original behavior sequence follows (same as the original data without the time codes.).

• The transitions follow. You'll use these data.

• The transition matrix is last. This is good to present results for a lab report, but difficult to build an ethogram from.

Copy the Behavior List to the clipboard and transfer to Excel.

In Excel, sort on the Total column. Be careful to keep the behaviors with their corresponding counts. Graph the results. A cleaned-up version of this graph would be appropriate for the lab report.

Copy the transition matrix to a new Excel spreadsheet. The counts are OK, but it's better to show frequencies. To generate a transition matrix of frequencies first calculate the row sums and total number of behaviors. Then copy the row and column headings to a blank spot on the spreadsheet. For this data set the formula for the frequencies are shown in 3 (NOTE: the dollar signs are not optional and cause Excel to always divide the current cell contents (B2) by the total at P16.

Copy the formula to the rest of the matrix. Now the data are presented as frequencies. You could set them to percentages if you like.

Go back to timeline and click the Draw button under the Transition Matrix. This generates the timeline at the bottom of the program. Follow the graph as so: SitScanWalkTDScanWalkTDetc.

Start up your paint program. You'll be using the data set at the left. It's difficult to make an ethogram using this many behaviors, so we'll only work with Sit through Bark. We're only leaving three off anyway.

	Create a blank sheet and choose the preset shapes. This will create a VECTOR shape that can be moved around on the page. Use vectors for all operations since they're easy to rearrange.
	We'll start with sit. There were 15 sits. We will use that to create a Sit box. For no reason other than it's easy on the mind, we'll make the sit box 150X150 units. Scan will be 80X80 and so forth.
Click for larger image	Use the draw tool to create a box to represent "sit" Make the sit box 150X150 units. NOTE: If you are not using a paint program you could cut out a square of construction paper 1.5 X 1.5 inches.
	Label the sit box as "sit" using the text tool
Click for larger image	For Paintshop you should set the text so.
Click for larger image	Continue making more behavior boxes (Or construction paper boxes).
Click for larger image	Arrange the boxes with the largest grouped around one another. Or arrange your construction paper. Some of the behaviors had to be abbreviated to fit in the boxes (lu for LookUp and brk for Bark).
Click for larger image	Now we'll start connecting the boxes. The width of the arrows is proportional to the frequency of the transitions. The Sit to Scan transitions numbered 5. We'll make the arrow for that 50 units wide (40 for Scan to WalkTD, etc.). Make the arrow. The thickness of the arrow is 50. The arrow is 50 units thick.
Click for larger image	Continue adding arrows and rearranging the behaviors using the data from the transition list. You'll probably have to move the arrows and behaviors around to minimize crossing arrows.
Click for larger image	I like to make a picture of the transitions data and then keep track of the behaviors that I've completed by filling with yellow paint. Note that not all of the behavioral transitions were used. Row 8 (LayBD-HD to Scan) was not used since LayBD was not included as one of our behaviors. This is completed.

I dressed the ethogram up a little.

Here's an explanation on how to interpret an ethogram
Now What? Statistical Analysis of an Ethogram and Transition Matrix.