Focal sampling — observe, record, analyse
- 30,000+ sessions
- Multilingual ethograms
- Available offline
Focal sampling, a method from ethology
Behaviour is one of the main indicators of animal welfare. Grid or questionnaire assessments describe what your animals can do, given their environment; behavioural observations show what they actually do, day to day.
Focal sampling is an observation method used in ethology: you follow a single individual for a set period and record each of its behaviours, using an ethogram, the catalogue of the species' behaviours.
Animal Welfare Monitor lets you carry out these observations in the field, on a phone or tablet. The web version then analyses them, individual by individual.
Data collection
Recording a focal observation in the field
Observations are made as part of a data collection campaign, prepared on the web: individuals to follow, ethogram, duration of each observation. In the field, Animal Welfare Monitor guides each step:
- Individual by individual — for each planned individual, start an observation and see the number of collections already made; progress and objectives per time slot remain visible.
- Behaviour by behaviour — choose the category, then the behaviour in the ethogram: each change is recorded with its start and end time, until the end of the planned duration.
- Interactions and objects — for the behaviours concerned, indicate the partner individual or the object handled, if the campaign enables this option.
- Live or from a video — when the campaign allows it, the observation can be made later, from a video recording for which you enter the start date and time.
- Context and comment — if the campaign includes them, context questions before and after the observation (e.g. weather, presence of other animals, a particular event); at the end of the observation, a comment passes on context or reports an anomaly to Akongo's ethologists.
- Offline — the campaign is downloaded to the device: the observation is made without a network and is sent automatically once the connection is back.
Species ethograms, described and illustrated
Akongo provides ethograms by species: catalogues of named, described and illustrated behaviours. The library contains more than 100 multilingual ethograms; in Animal Welfare Monitor, you find those of your campaigns:
- Shared definitions — each behaviour is named and described, so that the whole team observes with the same reference points.
- Photos and videos — depending on the behaviour, an illustrative photo or video helps you recognise what you are observing.
- Video during the observation — if in doubt, open the video of a behaviour without leaving the observation.
- Available outside data collection — the ethograms of your active campaigns remain available in the app's Resources, to review a definition.
If a video is missing for a species, you can suggest one to your Akongo contact.
Checking that everyone records in the same way
For observations to be comparable, the way of recording must stay the same from one observer to the next. The web version lets you check this:
- Paired observations — two observers carry out a focal observation of the same individual, at the same time.
- Inter-observer reliability — The web version automatically finds these observations in the campaign, compares them and calculates the agreement rate and Cohen's κ coefficient; the summary can be exported.
- Practice campaigns — a training campaign lets observers practise in the field: its data is excluded from the analyses.
Comparable data, from one observer to the next
Analysis
The time budget, individual by individual
Once synchronised, focal observations are analysed on the web, by individual, by group or by enclosure:
- Time budget — how the animal's time is divided between its behaviours (e.g. resting, moving, feeding) and how this changes over time.
- Sequences and circadian rhythm — the behaviours that follow one another, and how they are distributed over the day.
- Sociogram — based on the interactions recorded during observations, the positive and negative relationships between individuals.
- Comparisons — two periods, two individuals, before and after a group change or the addition of an enrichment.
- Export — in CSV, Excel or JSON, in French or English, with the observation context if needed.
What focal sampling changes for your park
- Comparable data
Same ethograms, same method, verifiable reliability between observers: observations can be compared from one person, one individual and one period to the next.
- The effect of changes, measured
After an enrichment is added or a group is changed, the time budget shows whether the time spent exploring or interacting has changed.
- What happens when you are not there
Using your video recordings, delayed observations also cover times when no one is on site.
- A complement to veterinary monitoring
Observations follow the animal at any age and complement health data.
Connected modules
Focal sampling relies on other Animal Welfare Monitor features, in the field and on the web, and feeds them in return.
- Behavioural assessmentsThe web version analyses focal observations, individual by individual.Explore module
- Scan samplingScan sampling complements focal sampling by showing how the whole group uses the space.Explore module
- Social networksInteractions recorded during observations feed the group's sociogram.Explore module
- EnrichmentWith the Progress offer, compare the behaviours observed before and after an enrichment is installed.Explore module
Structure your behavioural observations, from the field to analysis
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