This is an upper level course designed to train students in the field and laboratory methods used in ethology. Training covers methods of observation, description, hypothesis generation and testing, and methods of analysis.
Emphasis is on actual field and laboratory experience gathering real data.
Topics covered include orientation, sound recording and analysis, descriptive methods, group structure, sampling techniques, territoriality, courtship, experimental design and data analysis. The two independent projects are to be written up as scientific reports in the form they would be submitted to a hypothetical journal. Enrollment is restricted to 22 students. The course normally meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Students are required to keep a field notebook and must write two major reports on independent research projects.