I posed this question to Ms. Kelly Smith.
For reporting on the form, I have been selecting the first 30 minutes (from the top of the hour or quarter hour, to make timekeeping easier) after arriving at the nest site. The form is designed for reporting only 30 minutes on each copy, which better relates that set of observations to the weather and traffic conditions during a relatively short time period. I did expand my report to 90 minutes one morning, when traffic was quite stable and the temperature only varied by one degree during that time. I did find it a bit more complex to keep track of the comings and goings of the two eagles over the longer time period. From now on I will stick to 30 minute intervals. This also should make data aggregation easier for the students, since all forms will be uniform.
I asked Ms Kelly Smith about her preference in this regard, and I think she is reluctant to set down a hard and fast rule. She first wants us to know how she and the students appreciate receiving whatever data we can send.
"It is very difficult for many of the students to make it to the nest site and all of the data that we get from the community will help us with being able to see any kind of patterns in the data."
Ms. Smith suggests that we should not select just the "interesting times" for recording data. She says:
It would tend to skew the results. One goal that we have is that we are hoping to have as much data from each of the traffic levels as possible. If you find it tedious to complete the checklist for the entire length of your visit, maybe we can help "randomize" the data by suggesting that you only record the first 30 minutes or 1hour that you are there? Then, if there is more activity that occurs later, you could still write about it on [this NEST WATCH FORUM], or if it was something very exciting that needed to be recorded you could add it to the additional observations at the bottom of the form, along with the time that it occurred. That way, we would have a record of it, but it wouldn't skew the overall data in regards to traffic.
...Every bit of data will give us an opportunity for learning. We will spend quite a bit of time discussing the "validity" of the data. We certainly want it to be as valid as possible, but all scientists have to work within their capabilities. What a wonderful learning opportunity for these kids!
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