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Techniques for Analysis of Quantitative Ethnobiological Data: Use of Indices

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Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology

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Abstract

Quantitative techniques for the analysis of collected data have become increasingly popular among ethnobiologists and ethnobotanists in particular. Since the 1990s, a number of techniques have been proposed, and many authors have adopted them in their research. However, this acceptance of quantitative techniques was not accompanied by an analysis of their limitations and weaknesses. This chapter presents a discussion of the role of quantitative techniques for the analysis of plant data and an overview showing some of the most commonly used techniques. These include examples cited in some reviews, along with more recently proposed additions and limitations for some of these examples. The techniques discussed here were extracted from ethnobotanical works but are nevertheless applicable in other fields of ethnobiology.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botânica—Unidade Acadêmica de Serra Talhada, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Serra Talhada, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Valdeline Atanazio da Silva

  2. Laboratory of Applied and Theoretical Ethnobiology, Department of Biology, Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Viviany Teixeira do Nascimento, Gustavo Taboada Soldati & Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque

  3. Health and Education Center, Federal University of Campina Grande, Cuité, Paraíba, Brazil

    Maria Franco Trindade Medeiros

Authors
  1. Valdeline Atanazio da Silva
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  2. Viviany Teixeira do Nascimento
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  3. Gustavo Taboada Soldati
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  4. Maria Franco Trindade Medeiros
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  5. Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Ulysses Paulino Albuquerque

  2. Departmento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Católica de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Luiz Vital Fernandes Cruz da Cunha

  3. Departamento de Fitotecnia e Ciências Ambientais, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, Areia, Paraíba, Brazil

    Reinaldo Farias Paiva de Lucena

  4. Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraiba, Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil

    Rômulo Romeu Nobrega Alves

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da Silva, V.A., do Nascimento, V.T., Soldati, G.T., Medeiros, M.F.T., Albuquerque, U.P. (2014). Techniques for Analysis of Quantitative Ethnobiological Data: Use of Indices. In: Albuquerque, U., Cruz da Cunha, L., de Lucena, R., Alves, R. (eds) Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7_24

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8636-7_24

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8635-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8636-7

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