Analyzing Animal Societies
Quantitative Methods for Vertebrate Social Analysis
Analyzing Animal Societies presents a conceptual framework for analyzing social behavior and demonstrates how to put this framework into practice by collecting suitable data on the interactions and associations of individuals so that relationships can be described, and, from these, models can be derived. In addition to presenting the tools, Hal Whitehead illustrates their applicability using a wide range of real data on a variety of animal species—from bats and chimps to dolphins and birds. The techniques that Whitehead describes will be profitably adopted by scientists working with primates, cetaceans, birds, and ungulates, but the tools can be used to study societies of invertebrates, amphibians, and even humans. Analyzing Animal Societies will become a standard reference for those studying vertebrate social behavior and will give to these studies the kind of quality standard already in use in other areas of the life sciences.
“This is the go-to guide for the analysis of social structure and social behavior, and it should stimulate and inform the next generation of students of social behavior. Analyzing Animal Societies is a wonderful book that incorporates hard-earned common sense, a critical evaluation of alternative methods, and an introduction to a variety of tools for which those interested in social behavior should be fluent. I shall recommend this to all students who come to me with an interest in studying social behavior.”—Daniel T. Blumstein, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
"In his new book, Hal Whitehead has critically gathered an astounding richness of methods focusing on all aspects of sociality. He has scrutinized the material and practical advice for its application is given. This comprehensive work will certainly become a reference for anyone interested in quantitatively analyzing sociality in animal (and human) societies."— Dr. Lorenz Gygax, Centre for proper housing of ruminants and pigs, Federal Veterinary Office, Switzerland
“This comprehensive guide to methodology by a long-time leader in the field will be of great value to ethologists, behavioral ecologists, and other students of social behavior.”— John W. Pepper, University of Arizona
“Throughout his long and productive research career, Hal Whitehead has consistently tackled some of the most difficult and fascinating questions about animal societies—such as cultural evolution and the evolution of social strategies in cetaceans. And he has made astonishing empirical contributions toward answering these questions in some of the world’s most interesting and elusive research subjects. It is rare to find a researcher who asks such broad theoretical questions, collects hard-earned field data spanning decades, and then possesses the mathematical sophistication to appropriately analyze large and messy data sets. In this valuable book, he clearly spells out the latest analytical techniques for describing and modeling constantly shifting relationships and social structures, and for answering questions about cultural transmission, bond-testing, social complexity, and the nuances of social dynamics in animal societies. His use of sample data sets from a variety of species to illustrate his points should help maintain interest even in readers who love the animals and the questions but fear the math.”—Susan Perry, University of California, Los Angeles
“Hal Whitehead has done it again. From his earlier superb work on social strategies of sperm whales and other deep divers to his seminal analyses of culture in marine mammals, he now expands on the technical quantitative social analysis tools he has both borrowed from others and developed himself. He guides the reader gently yet firmly through an amazingly detailed and up-to-date description of how to analyze societies in fair and meaningful manner; all one needs is an inquisitive mind and a willingness to learn. Hal Whitehead appears somewhat of a magician to us mere mortals who study vertebrate societies: he combines superb capabilities in the disciplines of mathematics, statistics, network theory, programming, and behavioral ecology. Oh yes, he is also a fluid and entertaining writer, and is at home as well at the helm of his research sailing vessel where (I suspect) many of his ideas for this book may have originated or been refined.”—Bernd Würsig, Texas A&M University and coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, Academic Press
“This is an essential handbook on the quantitative analysis of social structure in animal groups… Whitehead’s approachable writing style makes this a book to read, enjoy, and have on the shelf Researchers and students in this field will find [the book] invaluable and will refer to it often.”—Choice
Acknowledgments
Conventions and Abbreviations
1: Analyzing Social Structure
1.1: Introduction
1.2: What Is Social Structure?
1.3: Why Social Structure Is Important
1.4: Conceptualizing Animal Societies: A Brief History
1.5: Ethology and Behavioral Ecology
1.6: Hinde’s Ethological Conceptual Framework of Social Structure
1.7: Other Definitions and Concepts of Social Structure
1.8: Elements and Measures of Social Structure
1.9: The Functional Why Questions, and Ecology
1.10: Examples of Social Analyses
1.11: Problems with Analyzing Social Structure
2: Technical Matters
2.1: Modes of Scientific Enquiry
2.2: Basic Descriptive Statistics
2.3: Precision of Statistics: Bootstraps and Jackknives
2.4: Hypothesis Testing
2.5: Data Matrices
2.6: Ordination
2.7: Classification
2.8: Model Fitting and Selection: the Method of Likelihood and the Akaike Information Criterion
2.9: Computer Programs
3: Observing Interactions and Associations: Collecting Data
3.1: Types of Behavior
3.2: Interactions
3.3: Associations
3.4: Groups
3.5: Identifying Individuals
3.6: Class Data
3.7: Collecting Social Data
3.8: Data Formats
3.9: Sampling Periods
3.10: Attributes of Data Sets
3.11: How Large a Data Set Is Needed for Social Analysis?
box 3.1: Precision and Power of Social Analysis
4: Describing Relationships
4.1: Relationships
4.2: Nonsocial Measures of Relationship
4.3: Social Attributes of Individuals, Including Gregariousness
4.4: Rates of Interaction
4.5: Association Indices
box 4.1: Choosing an Association Index: Recommendations
4.6: Temporal Patterning of Interactions/Associations
4.7: Relative Relationships: Multivariate Description of Relationships
4.8: Types of Relationships
4.9: “Special” Relationships: Permutation Tests for Preferred/Avoided Companionships
4.10: Quantifying the Strength of a Relationship and the Bond
4.11: Relationships between Classes
box 4.2: Describing Relationships: Recommendations
5: Describing and Modeling Social Structure
box 5.1: Omitting Individuals from Analyses of Social Structure
5.1: Attributes of Social Structure
5.2: Single-Measure Displays of Social Structure
box 5.2: Visual Displays of Social Structure: General Guidelines
5.3: Network Analysis
box 5.3: Network Analyses: Recommendations
5.4: Dominance Hierarchies
box 5.4: Analyzing Dominance Hierarchies: Recommendations
5.5: Adding Time: Lagged Association Rates
box 5.5: Lagged Association Rates: Recommendations and Extensions
5.6: Multivariate Methods
5.7: Delineating Groups, Units, Communities, and Tiers
box 5.6: Recommendations for Population Division
box 5.7: Describing Social Structure: Recommendations
6: Comparing Societies
6.1: Comparing Social Structures
6.2: Classifying Social Structures
6.3: How Complex Is My Society?
7: What Determines Social Structure, and What Does Social Structure Determine?
7.1: The Individual in Society: Roles
7.2: The Dyad in Society: Conflict
7.3: The Dyad in Society: Cooperation
box 7.1: Quantitative Methods in the Behavioral Ecology of Social Systems
7.4: Environmental Determinants of Social Systems
7.5: Mating Systems and Social Systems
7.6: Culture in Society
8: The Way Forward
8.1: Conceptual Frameworks
8.2: Subjects of Social Analysis
8.3: Collecting Better Data
8.4: Improving Analysis
9: Appendices
9.1: Glossary
9.2: A Key Journal and Some Useful Books
9.3: Computer Programs
9.4: Estimating Social Differentiation
9.5: Assessing Unit Size, Group Size, or Community Size
References
Index
Biological Sciences: Behavioral Biology | Biology--Systematics | Ecology | Evolutionary Biology | Natural History
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