Abstract
In this chapter I consider the potential of investigating one particular form of avian behaviour: sleep. This type of behaviour incorporates multiple variables within a complex field research design. I suggest that the concurrent effects of several variables may be reliably investigated using facet analysis and the mapping sentence. After introducing this research, I will specify some of the notions that are core to my argument including the need for precise definitions to be developed and investigated in avian behavioural research. I offer the example of the rate at which sleeping ducks blink as an example of a type of bird behaviour that ornithologists may be interested in, and I develop a mapping sentence framework for investigating this behaviour. I advance an initial mapping sentence that is rudimentary and provide successively more intricate mapping sentences that reflect an increasingly complex design for blinking research to investigate the rate at which a sleeping duck blinks. I then use the same example to illustrate the analysis of behavioural profiles of individual birds or of particular species of birds. Throughout, I stress the importance of using a consistent research framework to facilitate understanding, consistency of interpretations and cumulative knowledge.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
I am not meaning to imply that scientists do not consider these aspects of sleep or that scientists are in some way shoddy in their research design or in their thinking about birds. Rather I mean that some aspects of constructs such as sleep either may be outside of a specific research project or may have undiscovered pertinence to a specific project and may therefore not be considered.
- 2.
Louis Guttman (1959a, b, p130) specified a facet to be a set that is understood as being a component of a Cartesian set. Borg (1977, p65) offers the following definition. Facet theory is, he says: “… a general methodology for investigation in the social sciences: it provides a general framework for the precise definition of a universe of observations, which is directly related to both the specification of the various elements of empirical studies (stimuli, subjects, responses) and to theories about the structure of those observations”.
- 3.
Indeed, I have used quantitative facet analysis (e.g. Hackett (2013, 2014)), but more recently I have developed a qualitative version of facet analysis and the declarative mapping sentence (Hackett 2016) and using all forms of facet analytical procedures may be useful in avian behavioural research.
References
Alt, D. (2016) Students’ Perceived Constructivist Learning Environment Empirical Examples of the Comparison Between Facet Theory with Smallest Space Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis, European Journal of Psychological Assessment, https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000358
Borg, I., and Shye, S. (1995) Facet Theory: Form and Content (Advanced Quantitative Techniques in the Social Sciences), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Borg, I. (1977). Some basic concepts in facet theory, In Lingoes, J.C., Roskam, E., and Borg, I. (eds.) Geometric Representation of Relational data: 65–102. Mathesis: Ann Arbor.
Canter, D. (ed.) (1985a) Facet Theory: Approaches to Social Research, New York: Springer Verlag.
Canter, D. (1985b) How to be a Facet Researcher, in Canter, D. (ed.) (1985) Facet Theory: Approaches to Social Research, p265–276. New York: Springer Verlag.
Guillemain,M., Fonque, C., and Figuerola, J. (2012) Consistent Contrast Between Eyelid and Iris Brightness Supports a Role for Vigilance Signalling in Ducks, Ibis, 154: 461–467.
Gurdin, J., Levy, S., & Gratch, H. (1990). The Structure of Social Values. Contemporary Sociology, 19(1), 44–46.
Guttman, L. (1947) Scale and Intensity Analysis for Attitude, Opinion and Achievement, in Kelly, G.A. (1947) (ed.) New Methods in Applied Psychology: Proceedings of the Maryland Conference on Military Contributions to Methodology in Applied Psychology held at the University of Maryland, November 27-28, 1945, under the auspices of the Military Division of the American Psychological Association. College Park, MD: University of Maryland.
Guttman, L. (1954a) A new approach to factor analysis: The radex. in Lazarsfeld, P.F. (Ed.), Mathematical thinking in the social sciences (pp. 258–348). New York: Free Press.
Guttman, L. (1954b) An outline of some new methodology for social research. Public Opinion Quarterly, 18, 395–404.
Guttman, L. (1959a) Introduction to facet design and analysis. In Proceedings of the Fifteenth International Congress of Psychology, Brussels – 1957 (pp. 130–132). Amsterdam: North Holland.
Guttman, L. (1959b) Introduction to Facet Design and Analysis, Acta Psychologica, 15, pp. 130–138.
Guttman, L. (1971) Measurement as Theory, Psychometrika 36, 329–347.
Guttman, R., and Greenbaum, C. (1998) Facet Theory: Its Development and Current Status, European Psychologist 3, 13–36.
Guttman, L., and Levy, S. (1991) Two Structural Laws for Intelligence, Intelligence, 15, 79–109.
Hackett, P.M.W. (1983) Observations on Blink Rates in Ferruginous Duck (Aythya nyroca) in a flock of mainly Mallard (Anas Platyrhynchos), Working Paper / Field Notes.
Hackett, P.M.W. (1995) Conservation and the Consumer: Understanding Environmental Concern. London: Routledge Publishers
Hackett, P.M.W. (2013) Fine Art and Perceptual Neuroscience: Field of Vision and the Painted Grid, Explorations in Cognitive Psychology Series, London: Psychology Press.
Hackett, P.M.W. (2014) Facet Theory and the Mapping Sentence: Evolving Philosophy, Use and Application, Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan Publishers.
Hackett, P.M.W. (2016) Facet Theory and the Mapping Sentence As Hermeneutically Consistent Structured Meta-Ontology and Structured Meta-Mereology. Frontiers in Psychology: Philosophical and Theoretical Psychology 7:471. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00471
Maslovaty, N., and Levy, S. (2001). A comparative approach in developing a structural value theory, in, Elizur, D. (Ed.), Facet theory: Integrating theory construction with data analysis (pp. 21–32). Prague, Czech Republic: Karlovy University of Prague.
Maslovaty, N., Marshall, A. E., and Alkin, M. C. (2001). Teachers’ perceptions structured through facet theory: Smallest space analysis versus factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 71–84.
Shirom, A. (1991). A facet-theoretic approach toward theorizing in labor relations. Paper presented at the Third International Facet Theory Conference, Jerusalem, Israel.
Shye, S. (1978) Theory Construction and Data Analysis on the Behavioral Sciences (The Jossey-Bass social and behavioral science series), San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc. Publishers.
Shye, S. (1998). Modern Facet Theory: Content Design and Measurement in Behavioral Research. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. 14, 2, 160–171.
Shye, S., and Amar, R. (1985) Partial-Order Scalogram Analysis by Base Coordinates and Lattice Mapping of the Items by their Scalogram Roles, in Canter, D. (ed.) (1985) Facet Theory: Approaches to Social Research, p277–298. New York: Springer Verlag.
Shye, S., and Elizur, D. (1994) Introduction to Facet Theory: Content Design and Intrinsic Data Analysis in Behavioral Research (Applied Social Research Methods), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Shye, S., Elizur, D., and Hoffman, M. (1994) Introduction to Facet Theory: Content, Design and Intrinsic Data Analysis in Behavioral Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Zhang, M., Gable, G., and Rai, A. (2016). Toward Principles of Construct Clarity: Exploring the Usefulness of Facet Theory in Guiding Conceptualization. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 20, Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 20. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v20i0.1123
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hackett, P.M.W. (2020). How to Develop a Mapping Sentence: The Example of Avian Sleep. In: The Complexity of Bird Behaviour. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12192-1_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12192-1_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-12191-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-12192-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)