How to take Frequency Data

What is it?

• A counting of how many times a behavior occurs in a designated time period
• Most useful with behaviors that are short in duration

How do I do it?

• Operationally define the behavior that you wish to observe (be very specific so that others will observe only what you had in mind)
• Decide how long your observation period will be- the more time you spend observing, the more accurate your data will be
• Repeat your observations at least two more times to give a more representative picture
• Figure the average number of occurrences per minute, hour, period, or day
• Plot the occurrence rate on a graph

Ready to try it?

Meet Wicket

Wicket has a big sister, remy

Let's see if we can do a frequency count of how many times Wicket barks in a 30 second interval

Don't forget to operationally define the behavior- what is considered a bark?
An abrupt, sharp, explosive cry of a dog

Remember, the vocalizations at 6, 13, 17, 22, and 26 seconds do not meet our operational definition of bark

Let's try it again, keeping in mind a bark is
an abrupt, sharp, explosive cry of a dog

How many barks did you count? You should have counted 16 barks in 30 seconds.

Lets plot our first data point on a bar graph

Barks per Second During Feedings

Repeat the process to get a better picture of the behavior

Barks per Second During Feedings

There you have it