Examples for Precision Estimates

09/05/24 • 20 min

In this episode, Matt, Randy, and Grant dive into a discussion of more in-depth real world examples related to precision estimates.

Episode Quotes

"...when you're talking about sample size, you're often doing this game of optimization where I'm trying to optimize precision with costs because I may need a precision of ten percent, but if it's gonna cost me a million dollars to get it, then we need to rethink our goals and what what we're doing because that's probably not achievable. And so it's this...back and forth between costs and efficiencies. And how much precision do we need to be able to answer the questions at hand."

"...we had a wealth of information that fed into various analyses, whether it was published or not published, that allowed us to really find a concrete way of moving that program forward. So that when we start seeing declines, let's say of a certain species in one of the ponds, we can start now over time being able to understand why that population is declining. What are the mechanisms behind it?"

Episode music: Shapeshifter by Mr Smith is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mr-smith/studio-city/shapeshifter/

Cite this episode: https://doi.org/10.7944/usfws.wbtn.s01ep05

DOI Citation Formatter: https://citation.doi.org/

In this episode, Matt, Randy, and Grant dive into a discussion of more in-depth real world examples related to precision estimates.

Episode Quotes

Episode music: Shapeshifter by Mr Smith is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mr-smith/studio-city/shapeshifter/

Cite this episode: https://doi.org/10.7944/usfws.wbtn.s01ep05

DOI Citation Formatter: https://citation.doi.org/

Previous Episode

Determining appropriate sample sizes to balance accuracy, precision, and resource allocation in wildlife studies

In this episode of Wildlife by the Numbers, Grant, Matt, and Randy, delve into the importance of proper sample size in wildlife studies. They emphasize that an adequate sample size is crucial for obtaining accurate and precise data, which directly impacts the reliability of conservation efforts. Sample size ensures representativeness and precision, critical for drawing valid conclusions about wildlife populations.

Matt explains that without a reasonable sample size, it is impossible to obtain a representative sample, leading to inaccurate estimations. The conversation touches on how over- or under-sampling can lead to either wasted resources or insufficient data, respectively. Randy discusses the challenges in achieving desired precision in various wildlife surveys, such as those involving fish in reservoirs, where spatial variability can complicate sampling.

Overall, this episode underscores the necessity of determining appropriate sample sizes to balance accuracy, precision, and resource allocation in wildlife studies, ensuring that conservation and management strategies are based on robust scientific data.

Episode Quotes:

"...the two issues that are intertwined in in sample size. One is representativeness, which we've talked about already,

and then the other is precision. Basically, how good is my estimate of that mean?"

"So as a wildlife biologist, getting the right sample size is important because it'll also help you get good results. And it also makes sure that the effort you put out is commensurate with the with the precision of the results you want. So you're not under sampling and spending a

lot of money and time and not getting a precise answer, and you're not oversampling by spending a lot of money and time and getting a really tight answer that you really don't need."

"...but I do know what they're aiming for. And, typically, they partition it based on whether or not it's gonna be a management or a research question. With the research question aiming for a CV of ten to fifteen percent and then a management based question, a CV of twenty to twenty five percent is is acceptable."

Episode music: Shapeshifter by Mr Smith is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mr-smith/studio-city/shapeshifter/

Cite this episode: https://doi.org/10.7944/usfws.wbtn.s01ep04

DOI Citation Formatter: https://citation.doi.org/

Next Episode

The importance of representative samples and why it matters in wildlife work.

In this episode of Wildlife By The Numbers, Matt, Grant, and Randy talk about the importance of representative samples and why it matters in wildlife work.

Episode Quotes:

"...layman's terms, bias is when you're reporting something that's really not valid because either your technique or your approach has provided answers that are no longer representative."

"Some good examples of the availability is oftentimes related to the animal's activity patterns. And so during the time of the survey, for instance, let's say for snakes and mussels, they could actually just be simply underground, especially for some of those snakes. So they're not available to be detected at that time of the survey."

"The reason we have to be attentive to both this idea of detection and availability is if we're not paying attention to it, we will get biased answers because we're not accounting for those prairie dogs that are in their burrows, and we're not accounting for these animals that are far away that we may not that are available that we just can't detect. And so we have to we have to figure so in wildlife surveys, we have to use techniques that will account for those factors and eliminate or minimize the chance that they'll cause bias in your final results."

"What is a true zero versus what is a what is a false zero? And the way detection works is if you go to a site and you didn't observe that the individual was present at the time of the survey, is it due to the fact that it wasn't simply present, or was it some other reason why you were not able to observe it specifically?"

Episode music: Shapeshifter by Mr Smith is licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

https://freemusicarchive.org/music/mr-smith/studio-city/shapeshifter/