Knowledge Base

Comparison List

How to Display the Comparison List

The Comparison List is available when you used the Frequency/Sequence comparison method. To display it:

1. Choose Analyze > Reliability Analysis > New.
2. Select the Frequency/Sequence method, specify the other settings and click OK. See Reliability Analysis General Procedure.
3. Click the Comparison List button on the toolbar of the Reliability Analysis Results.
4. Select the pair from the list next to the Comparison List button.

The Comparison List Window

The Comparison List lists all agreements and disagreements of the observations compared with the Frequency/Sequence method. It contains, from left to right:

• The Run number of the reliability analysis algorithm. If you hover over this number with the mouse pointer, a tooltip is displayed with a short explanation. By default, the Run column is hidden. To show it, choose View Settings > Run.
• The events with duration (with their start and stop time) and events without duration (with their start time) of the first observation of each pair selected in the analysis settings window.
• The Result of the comparison between the records of the two observations.
• The events with duration (with their start and stop time) and events without duration (with their start time) of the second observation.

The Comparison List in Detail

Symbols

• Marks starts of events with duration (mutually exclusive and start-stop), including the <Gap "Behavior Name">.
• Marks events without duration.
• Marks an agreement between an event in the two observations.
• Marks a disagreement between an event in the two observations.

Observation Start

Observation start marks the observation start time relative to the point where the program starts comparing the data files. See Synchronization. Please note:

• If you have selected Use the Start of Observations from the Synchronization list and you are comparing live observations, Observation Start shows the time difference between the two start times.
• If you have selected Align First Scored Events from the Synchronization list and there are no events starting at 0:00, the comparison starts at the first scored event, which gets time 0.0. Therefore, Observation Start is negative (for example, -50.4 if the first event occurs at 50.4 s).
• If you have started observing from a point in a media file later than 0:00, and you select Align Video Start Time from the Synchronization list, Observation Start shows the start of the observation relative to the video start time (for example, 60.0 if you start observing at 1 minute in the video file).

Synchronization Point

The point in time where the program starts comparing the two files. It is always the same for both observations.

<Nothing Scored in Combination>

Events in one observation are paired to <Nothing scored in combination> when there is no data from the same subject and behavior group in the other observation. This results in a disagreement.

<Gap "Behavior Name">

Gaps in the observations are only analyzed when the option Analyze gaps between events has been selected.

Events in one observation are paired to <Gap "Behavior name"> when the closest event in the other observation is the stop of an event with duration that is not followed by the start of a new one. For example, when you score the stop of a behavior by using the Stop code. These instances usually result in disagreements. When the gaps overlap in two observations, you get an agreement between a pair of <Gap "Behavior name">.

See also Reliability Analysis and Gaps.

Disagreements Caused by Modifiers

Events with the same subject and behavior result in disagreements if they have different modifiers. If the modifiers are numerical, they result in a disagreement only if they differ by more than the margin value set.

See Modifiers.

Edit the Comparison List

To Change the Time Format

By default, the Comparison List shows the event times as time elapsed from the point where the two observations are aligned. To change the format, do so in the Project Settings.

To Change the Decimal Symbol

Change the decimal symbol in Windows Regional Settings. Then restart The Observer XT and re-run the analysis.

If you select Include all results combined for multiple comparisons (see Combine multiple pairs of observations), the comparison list of the combined results sums up all agreements and disagreements from all pairs of observations.

Effect of the Coding Scheme on Reliability Analysis

How Behaviors Are Organized Matters

Reliability analysis works differently for behaviors that exclude each other in a mutually exclusive behavior group and behaviors that may overlap in a Start-Stop group.

• Behaviors in a Mutually Exclusive group are compared with each other within the group.
• Behaviors in a Start-Stop group are compared with the same behavior in the other observation. This may result in more disagreements in a Start-Stop group than in a Mutually Exclusive group.

See:

• Effect of Behavior Group - Frequency/Sequence Method
• Effect of Behavior Group - Duration/Sequence Method

See also:

• Behavior Group Types in Select Data for Analysis