Measuring social structure: a comparison of eight dominance indices

Behavioural Processes
Karen L BaylyAlan Taylor

Abstract

Measurement of social status is an important component of many behavioural studies. A variety of techniques have been developed and adopted, but while there have been some analyses of index properties using simulated data, the rationale for selecting a method remains poorly documented. As a first step in exploring the implications of index choice, we compared the characteristics of eight popular indices by applying each to the same data set from interactions between male fowl Gallus gallus, the system in which social hierarchies were first described. Data from eight social groups, observed over four successive breeding seasons, were analysed to determine whether different indices produced consistent dominance scores. These scores were then used in tests of the relation between social status and crowing to explore whether index choice affected the results obtained. We also examined the pattern of dominance index use over the last decade to infer whether this has likely been influenced by tradition, or by taxa of study animal. Overall agreement among methods was good when groups of birds had perfectly linear hierarchies, but results diverged when social structure was more complex, with either intransitive triads or reversals. Whi...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jul 24, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Máté NagyDora Biro
Mar 29, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Daniel T BlumsteinJennifer E Smith
May 23, 2008·Physiology & Behavior·Małgorzata Kruczek, Magdalena Zatorska
Jul 24, 2015·Scientific Reports·Tsuyoshi ShimmuraTakashi Yoshimura
May 4, 2013·American Journal of Primatology·K N BalasubramaniamH De Vries
Jul 25, 2014·Behavioural Processes·Carly A York, Bruce A Schulte
Oct 16, 2016·Scientific Reports·Steffen FoersterAnne E Pusey
May 1, 2007·Zoo Biology·Brigitte MarolfAlexandra E Müller
Mar 30, 2018·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Pierpaolo F BrenaEric E Clua
Oct 31, 2017·The Journal of Animal Ecology·Alfredo Sánchez-TójarDamien Roger Farine

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