Knowledge Base

Change the Observation's Start Time and Duration

By default, the Start time and Stop time of an observation are the earliest Start time and the latest Stop time of any data set in that observation. You find those times in the Independent Variable List (choose Setup > Independent Variables). If you want to exclude a section at the beginning of the observation, or if you stopped the observation too early, you need to change the start or stop time. You can change the start time and duration. The stop time is determined automatically from the start time and the duration.

Changing the Start Time and/or Duration of an observation does not move Event Logs, Video, Audio and External Data files. If, for example, you reduce the Start time (that is, you move the Start to the left), the files belonging to that observation are not moved accordingly. This results in a larger gap between the Start time and the start of the files.

Procedure

1. Choose Setup > Independent Variables.
2. Choose View Settings > Show Independent Variables and select Start Time, Stop Time and Duration.
3. Edit the Start Time or Duration cell.

Notes:

• Changing the observation start time or duration does not affect synchronization between individual files, meaning the start time of one file relative to others. To change the synchronization between files, see Synchronize Data Sets.
• The observation Stop time is changed automatically according to the changes in the observation start time and duration, and cannot be edited. Events that are recorded before the start time or after the stop time of the observation are shown in gray in the Event Log.

Edit the Coding Scheme

Add an Element to the Coding Scheme

It may happen that you observe something that does not comply with any element in your coding scheme. You can add new elements (Subjects, Behaviors, Modifiers) or element groups (Behavior and Modifier groups) in two ways:

• Method 1 (best for offline observations, and for extensive changes to the coding scheme): Stop the observation, re-open the coding scheme (Setup > Open Coding Scheme) and add the new element, then re-open and start the observation.
• Method 2 (for both live and offline observations, and for limited changes to the coding scheme): Add the new element while you are observing and score that element immediately. See Add a Coding Scheme Element While Observing.

Add a Coding Scheme Element While Observing

1. If you are carrying out an observation from video or audio, pause the video or audio file first.
2. In the Codes window, click the tab you want to add an element to. For example, if you want to add a behavior, choose Behaviors.
3. Choose one of the options at the bottom of the Codes window.

Add a Subject

1. Enter the name of the new subject and its keycode, or accept the suggested code.
2. Click Add.

Add a Behavior

1. From the Add to Group list, select the behavior group that you want the new behavior to be part of.
2. Enter the name and the keycodes for the new behavior, or accept the suggested ones.
3. From the Type list, select whether the new behavior is a Point Event, a State Event or an Initial State Event. See Behavior Types in Set Up Your Project.
4. In the Link To box, select the modifier groups you want to associate with the behavior.
5. Click Add.

Add a Behavior Group

When your observation method is Instantaneous Sampling, you cannot add a behavior group. To add a behavior group for continuous sampling:

1. Enter a name in the Group Name field.
2. Choose whether the behaviors in the group can or cannot occur at the same time. See Behavior Group Types in Set Up Your Project.
3. Enter the behaviors and, for each behavior, choose whether it has duration or not. See Behavior Types in Set Up Your Project.

Add a Modifier

1. Select the group to which the new modifier belongs. If the modifier does not belong to any existing group, create a new group first (see below).
2. Enter a Value and Keycode.
3. Click Add.

Add a Modifier Group

1. In the Add Modifier Group window, choose a Nominal or Numerical group. See Modifier Group Types in Set Up Your Project for the difference.
2. Enter a name and all modifiers.
3. In the Link to Behaviors box, select the behaviors that you want to associate with the modifier group, then click Create Group.

Notes:

• Remember to also define connections between subjects and behaviors and between behaviors and modifiers.
• If the configuration is locked (see Lock the Project Setup in Set Up Your Project), it is not possible to add new elements to the coding scheme.
• In the Codes window, you can add new elements to your coding scheme, but not modify or delete existing ones. To modify or delete existing elements, open the coding scheme.

Edit a Coding Scheme Element After Observing

1. Stop the observation.
2. Open the coding scheme (choose Setup > Open Coding Scheme).
3. Click the element.
4. To change the element, choose Properties at the bottom of the screen to open the Properties pane. Modify the element properties (see Create Coding Scheme in Set Up Your Project for details). To delete the element, press Ctrl+Delete.
5. Re-open the observation and resume scoring.

If at least one of the observations contains the element you want to delete, the program inactivates it instead. The element is still present in your data, so you can analyze it.