Loading…
NEW THIS YEAR! The schedule of technical sessions is in Sched.org which allows you to search within the schedule, filter the schedule to show sessions only occurring on a certain date, within a track, or in a room. You can also build your own schedule by creating a free account in Sched.org. Click here to return to the main Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference website. 

PLEASE NOTE: The schedule posted here is as of 1/25/16, and is subject to change. Please check back for updates.
Tuesday, January 26 • 3:20pm - 3:40pm
Improving The Accuracy of Self-Reported Waterfowl Harvest Estimates

Sign up or log in to save this to your schedule, view media, leave feedback and see who's attending!

AUTHORS: Jerry J. Vaske, Colorado State University Jay Beaman, Colorado State University Craig Miller, Illinois Natural History Survcey

ABSTRACT: Imprecision in respondent recall can cause response heaping or spikes in frequency data for particular values (e.g., 5, 10, 15). In human dimensions research, heaping can occur for variables such as days of participation (e.g., hunting, fishing), or animals/fish harvested. Distributions with heaps can bias population estimates because the means and totals can be inflated or deflated. Because bias can result in poor management decisions, determining if the bias is large enough to matter is important. This presentation introduces the logic and flow of a deheaping program that estimates bias in means and totals when people use approximate responses (i.e., prototypes). The program can make estimates even when spikes occur due to bag limits. The program is available online, and smooths heaps at multiples of 5 (numbers ending in 5 and 0) and 7 (e.g., 7, 14, 21), and produces standard deviations in estimates. The program is illustrated using 25 years of waterfowl harvest estimates from Illinois. Discussion focuses on improving the accuracy of harvest estimates for adaptive harvest management.

Tuesday January 26, 2016 3:20pm - 3:40pm EST
Emerald A

Attendees (6)