WATCHES

WATCHES contains one row per date, per type of observation, per individual. The observation types are A-Record, B-Record, Location, and Other. The individual that is associated with the entire observation is dependent on the type of the observation. B-Record type observations are often follows, but need not be. B-Record type observations can consist solely of ad-hoc observations that are normally recorded during a follow, such as a pantgrunt, mating, aggression, etc.

WATCHES does not contain a row for every day every individual was observed because SokweDB contains data on individuals collected due to proximity with the intended target of observation.

The Type column is used to distinguish and identify the various important categories. There may only be one row on WATCHES per category, per day, per individual. This means, the combination of Type, AnimID and Date must be unique.

The Type categories are:

A (A-Record)

Each row represents either a day during which a chimpanzee was observed at the feeding station or a day when point sample grooming scans were done at the feeding station.

When a given chimpanzee is observed at the feeding station more than once per-day, there are multiple EVENTS rows, with an EVENTS.Behavior value of AARR, related to the WATCHES row recording the presence of the individual at the feeding station on the given day.

The AnimID column must contain the BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID of the individual that appeared at the feeding station, when there is a record of attendance at the feeding station. This means when there is a related ARRIVALS_A row.

When there is no related ARRIVALS_A row, when there are only related EVENTS rows with an EVENTS.Behavior value of AGSCAN to record interval scans for grooming, the expectation is that the individual recorded in the AnimID column, will be UNK. The system will generate a warning when when the AnimID is not UNK and there are related EVENTS rows with an EVENTS.Behavior of AGSCAN.

The system expects, but does not require, that individuals recorded as arriving at the feeding station be recognized. The system will generate a warning when AnimID is the unknown individual, UNK, and there is a related ARRIVALS_A row.

The CommID column contains the code for the community the observers recorded at the time; the COMM_IDS.CommID of a community. This value is not validated against an arriving individual’s record of community membership as recorded in other database content. This value is not validated against the community the individuals involved in grooming are a member of, as recorded in other database content. Therefore, care should be taken when using the CommID value recorded with A-Record data.

The system will generate a warning when a WATCHES row that represents attendance does not have a record of attendance – an ARRIVALS_A related row – that records the presence of the individual. This means that a warning is generated when an individual does not have a related EVENTS row where the Behavior code is AARR, and a ROLES row, related to the event, where the ROLES.Participant has the same value as the AnimID column. An exception is made for the unknown individual, when the AnimID value is UNK. In this case no warning is generated.

If an individual arrives at and leaves the feeding station multiple times on a single day, the one WATCHES row has multiple related ARRIVALS_A rows on the EVENTS table. When multiple individuals were found to be grooming, during interval scans for grooming conducted at the feeding station on any given day, the one WATCHES row has multiple related rows on the EVENTS table with an EVENTS.Behavior value of AGSCAN.

B (B-Record )

Each row represents a date/AnimID pairing on which information normally collected during B-Record follows was recorded. There is not necessarily a Tiki sheet, or a follow, that corresponds to the date/individual pairing.

If there are related rows on ARRIVALS it is safe to assume a follow was conducted on a focal individual on that day. But, it is also possible for a follow to have no related observations, related EVENTS rows.[1] For follows, the AnimID is the BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID of the focal.[2] The AnimID column also contains the BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID of the individual purported to be the focal of a BRECORD_NOTES translation, but there is no record of such a follow.

If no follow was conducted and there is no related BRECORD_NOTES row, then the AnimID is expected to be that of the unknown individual, UNK. This means that the system will generate a warning when there is no ARRIVALS or BRECORD_NOTES row related to the WATCHES row, and the WATCHES.AnimID value is not UNK.

Like any other AnimID value, there is at most one row per day involving the unknown individual.

The focal of a follow is expected to have been observed during the follow. This means the system will generate a warning when a WATCHES row of this type does not have a ARRIVALS related row that records the presence of the focal. This means that warning is generated when a WATCHES row with a Type value of B does not have a related EVENTS row where the Behavior code is ARR, and a ROLES row, related to the event, where the ROLES.Participant has the same value as the follow’s AnimID column. An exception is made in the case of the unknown individual, no warning is generated when the AnimID is the unknown individual ,``UNK``.

When no follow occurred, the AnimID value is expected to be, in some sense, meaningless. This means the system will generate a warning when a WATCHES row of this type does not have a ARRIVALS related row and the AnimID value is not that of the unknown individual, UNK. These sorts of watches rows may appear when there are ad-hoc observations of behaviors like pantgrunts, matings, aggressions, and so forth.

When there are related ARRIVALS rows there must be at least one related FOLLOW_OBSERVERS row, to record the observers scheduled to conduct the follow. This condition is checked on transaction commit.

The CommID column contains the code for the community recorded when the observation was taken; the COMM_IDS.CommID of the community. This is not necessarily the community the individual is a member of, although it usually is.

If there were multiple times on a single day that B-Record notes were taken, the one WATCHES row is related to multiple BRECORD_NOTES rows through the EVENTS table.

L (Location)

Each row represents a date on which an individual was spatially located.

The AnimID column contains the BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID of the spatially located individual.

The CommID column contains the code for the community recorded when the location was recorded in the field; the COMM_IDS.CommID of the community. This is not necessarily the community the located individual is a member of, although it usually is.

If an individual’s location is recorded multiple times on a single day, the one WATCHES row is related to multiple rows on the EVENTS table.

O (Other)

This Type value is almost used exactly as the B is used. It exists so that in the future (at the time of this writing) other behaviors, observed and recorded using other protocols, can be easily incorporated into SokweDB.

The one difference between a Type of O and a Type of B, is that the O Type is not expected to have related ARRIVALS rows. Unlike WATCHES rows with a Type of B, which generate warnings when there are not related ARRIVALS rows, WATCHES rows with a Type value of O generate warnings when there are related ARRIVALS rows.

The Date must be during a period when the watched individual was under study. This means that Date must be on or after the watched individual’s – the AnimID’s – BIOGRAPHY_DATA.EntryDate and on or before the watched individual’s BIOGRAPHY_DATA.DepartDate.

WID (Watch period ID)

A unique, automatically generated, positive integer which serves to identify the row. The value of this column cannot be changed. This column may not be NULL.

AnimID (focal or other watched ANIMal ID)

The BIOGRAPHY_DATA.AnimID identifying the individual under observation.

The designated individual that is the focal of a follow, or the individual observed at the feeding station, or UNK – the unknown individual –, etc., depending on the Type value.

This column may not be NULL.

CommID

A code for the community the observers have recorded for association with the watch period. This is not necessarily the community the AnimID is a member of, although it usually is. This column may not be NULL.

Date

The date when the watch period was conducted. This date may not be before 1960-07-14. This column may not be NULL.

Type

The type of watch period. This column categories kinds of observation made and is loosely tied to the data collection protocol used.

One of the following values:

A (A-Record)

B (B-Record)

L (Location)

O (Other)

See overview of the WATCHES table, above, for more information.

The value of this column cannot be changed. This column may not be NULL.

Notes

Free form textual notes on the watch period. This column may be empty text. It need not contain characters, but it may not contain only whitespace characters. This column may not be NULL.

Footnotes

[1]

As might happen if a Tiki sheet was produced, but for some reason the observers never reached the field.

[2]

There is no way for the system to enforce the requirement that the focal of a follow be the WATCHES.|WATCHES.AnimID| value. This is because there is no particular requirement, available within the data, a follow must meet in order to be called a follow. That said, as noted, the system generates a warning when there is B-Record type data and there is no recorded arrival for the individual recorded in the AnimID column.

Page last generated: 2026-07-26 00:41:56 UTC