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amckennafoster / flattenedfauna

A data curation project for roadkill data
MIT License
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Commonly captured variables #2

Open lc63 opened 5 years ago

lc63 commented 5 years ago

Let's make a list of common variables here.

lc63 commented 5 years ago

ffCommonVariables.xlsx (https://github.com/amckennafoster/flattenedfauna/files/3124217/ffCommonVariables.xlsx) This is what I documented from the Idaho DFW database. I also created a template for compiling a database "dictionary" that you two can use if you want to..it's what I'll be using to describe the databases that I investigate. However, it may not apply to any or all other databases. Since Idaho displays a short and long record, I described which variables were included in each--probably not necessary. I also described how IDFW captured each variable from the responding party--were responses limited to a controlled species list, or true/false, or short answer with no limitations.

In my Excel workbook, I made two sheets for each database. One has the complete list of variables with corresponding response type. There is also a glossary of terms and a notes field. The second sheet is just a list of the total variables (without dupes). I figured it would be easier to compile our lists if I left out the formatting. I hope this makes sense. I've attached the Idaho sheets and template.

amckennafoster commented 5 years ago

That's a nicely organized workbook! I started out in a google doc but moved to excel after seeing what you've done. What if our master list of variables had four fields: Source- site that collects the data Category- General category of the variable (Date and Time, Georeference, Classification, etc) Name- Variable name used by the source Comments- any comments, variable descriptions from the source, or links

We can then sort this list by category to see what the most common variable types are. Maybe this'll work?

I'm planning on fill in the dictionary form you made Lily for mine as well.

Here's my list so far (You can see I unintentionally chose much simpler data sources!): roadkill_grouplist_possibility.xlsx

amckennafoster commented 5 years ago

These seem to be the most basic/fundamental variables from our datasets:

Date and Time Description (general) Identifier Location (precise) Location Description Number of individuals Photo Species (Classification)