Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies

Autores
Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias; Francischini, Heitor; Kuhn, Lidia Aumond; Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho; Michels, Fernando Heck; De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins; Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet; Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon; de Francesco, Claudio German
Año de publicación
2016
Idioma
español castellano
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The operator effect is a well-known analytical bias already quantified in some taphonomic studies. However, the influence of operator bias in the replicability on taphonomic studies has still not been considered. Here, we quantified for the first time this bias using different multivariate statistical techniques, testing if the operator effect is related to the replicability. We analyzed the results reported by 15 operators working on the same dataset. Each operator analyzed 30 bioclasts (bivalve shells) by site, from a total of five sites, considering the following taphonomic attributes: shell fragmentation, edge rounding, corrasion, bioerosion, and color alteration. The operator effect followed the same pattern reported in previous studies, characterized by a worse correspondence for those attributes having more than two levels of damage categories. However, the effect did not appear to have relation to replicability, because nearly all operators found differences among sites. The binary attribute bioerosion exhibited 83% of correspondence among operators, but at the same time it was the taphonomic attribute that showed the highest dispersion among operators (28%). Therefore, we concluded that binary attributes, despite indicating a reduction of the operator effect diminishes replicability, resulting in different interpretations of concordant data. We found that a variance value of nearly 8% among operators was enough to generate a different taphonomic interpretation, in a Q-mode cluster analysis. The results reported here showed that the statistical method employed influences the level of replicability and comparability of a study and that the availability of results may be a valid alternative to reduce bias.
Fil: Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Francischini, Heitor. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Kuhn, Lidia Aumond. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Michels, Fernando Heck. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: de Francesco, Claudio German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina
Materia
ANALYTICAL BIAS
BIOCLASTS
STATISTICAL APPROACHES
TAPHONOMIC ATTRIBUTES
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/66792
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/66792
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studiesEl sesgo del operador en la replicabilidad de los estudios tafonómicos comparativosDo Nascimento Ritter, MatiasFrancischini, HeitorKuhn, Lidia AumondDa Luz, Nathália CarvalhoMichels, Fernando HeckDe Morais, Anderson Luiz MartinsPaim, Protásio Antônio VervloetXavier, Pedro Luis Ammonde Francesco, Claudio GermanANALYTICAL BIASBIOCLASTSSTATISTICAL APPROACHESTAPHONOMIC ATTRIBUTEShttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1The operator effect is a well-known analytical bias already quantified in some taphonomic studies. However, the influence of operator bias in the replicability on taphonomic studies has still not been considered. Here, we quantified for the first time this bias using different multivariate statistical techniques, testing if the operator effect is related to the replicability. We analyzed the results reported by 15 operators working on the same dataset. Each operator analyzed 30 bioclasts (bivalve shells) by site, from a total of five sites, considering the following taphonomic attributes: shell fragmentation, edge rounding, corrasion, bioerosion, and color alteration. The operator effect followed the same pattern reported in previous studies, characterized by a worse correspondence for those attributes having more than two levels of damage categories. However, the effect did not appear to have relation to replicability, because nearly all operators found differences among sites. The binary attribute bioerosion exhibited 83% of correspondence among operators, but at the same time it was the taphonomic attribute that showed the highest dispersion among operators (28%). Therefore, we concluded that binary attributes, despite indicating a reduction of the operator effect diminishes replicability, resulting in different interpretations of concordant data. We found that a variance value of nearly 8% among operators was enough to generate a different taphonomic interpretation, in a Q-mode cluster analysis. The results reported here showed that the statistical method employed influences the level of replicability and comparability of a study and that the availability of results may be a valid alternative to reduce bias.Fil: Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Francischini, Heitor. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Kuhn, Lidia Aumond. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Michels, Fernando Heck. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: de Francesco, Claudio German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ArgentinaSociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia2016-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/66792Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias; Francischini, Heitor; Kuhn, Lidia Aumond; Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho; Michels, Fernando Heck; et al.; Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies; Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia; Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia; 19; 3; 12-2016; 449-4641519-75302236-1715CONICET DigitalCONICETspainfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4072/rbp.2016.3.10info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/19_3/10_Ritter%20et%20al_pg449a464_online.pdfinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-10-22T11:17:25Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/66792instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-10-22 11:17:25.304CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
El sesgo del operador en la replicabilidad de los estudios tafonómicos comparativos
title Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
spellingShingle Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias
ANALYTICAL BIAS
BIOCLASTS
STATISTICAL APPROACHES
TAPHONOMIC ATTRIBUTES
title_short Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
title_full Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
title_fullStr Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
title_full_unstemmed Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
title_sort Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias
Francischini, Heitor
Kuhn, Lidia Aumond
Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho
Michels, Fernando Heck
De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins
Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet
Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon
de Francesco, Claudio German
author Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias
author_facet Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias
Francischini, Heitor
Kuhn, Lidia Aumond
Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho
Michels, Fernando Heck
De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins
Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet
Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon
de Francesco, Claudio German
author_role author
author2 Francischini, Heitor
Kuhn, Lidia Aumond
Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho
Michels, Fernando Heck
De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins
Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet
Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon
de Francesco, Claudio German
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv ANALYTICAL BIAS
BIOCLASTS
STATISTICAL APPROACHES
TAPHONOMIC ATTRIBUTES
topic ANALYTICAL BIAS
BIOCLASTS
STATISTICAL APPROACHES
TAPHONOMIC ATTRIBUTES
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The operator effect is a well-known analytical bias already quantified in some taphonomic studies. However, the influence of operator bias in the replicability on taphonomic studies has still not been considered. Here, we quantified for the first time this bias using different multivariate statistical techniques, testing if the operator effect is related to the replicability. We analyzed the results reported by 15 operators working on the same dataset. Each operator analyzed 30 bioclasts (bivalve shells) by site, from a total of five sites, considering the following taphonomic attributes: shell fragmentation, edge rounding, corrasion, bioerosion, and color alteration. The operator effect followed the same pattern reported in previous studies, characterized by a worse correspondence for those attributes having more than two levels of damage categories. However, the effect did not appear to have relation to replicability, because nearly all operators found differences among sites. The binary attribute bioerosion exhibited 83% of correspondence among operators, but at the same time it was the taphonomic attribute that showed the highest dispersion among operators (28%). Therefore, we concluded that binary attributes, despite indicating a reduction of the operator effect diminishes replicability, resulting in different interpretations of concordant data. We found that a variance value of nearly 8% among operators was enough to generate a different taphonomic interpretation, in a Q-mode cluster analysis. The results reported here showed that the statistical method employed influences the level of replicability and comparability of a study and that the availability of results may be a valid alternative to reduce bias.
Fil: Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Francischini, Heitor. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Kuhn, Lidia Aumond. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Michels, Fernando Heck. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: De Morais, Anderson Luiz Martins. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Paim, Protásio Antônio Vervloet. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: Xavier, Pedro Luis Ammon. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul; Brasil
Fil: de Francesco, Claudio German. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; Argentina
description The operator effect is a well-known analytical bias already quantified in some taphonomic studies. However, the influence of operator bias in the replicability on taphonomic studies has still not been considered. Here, we quantified for the first time this bias using different multivariate statistical techniques, testing if the operator effect is related to the replicability. We analyzed the results reported by 15 operators working on the same dataset. Each operator analyzed 30 bioclasts (bivalve shells) by site, from a total of five sites, considering the following taphonomic attributes: shell fragmentation, edge rounding, corrasion, bioerosion, and color alteration. The operator effect followed the same pattern reported in previous studies, characterized by a worse correspondence for those attributes having more than two levels of damage categories. However, the effect did not appear to have relation to replicability, because nearly all operators found differences among sites. The binary attribute bioerosion exhibited 83% of correspondence among operators, but at the same time it was the taphonomic attribute that showed the highest dispersion among operators (28%). Therefore, we concluded that binary attributes, despite indicating a reduction of the operator effect diminishes replicability, resulting in different interpretations of concordant data. We found that a variance value of nearly 8% among operators was enough to generate a different taphonomic interpretation, in a Q-mode cluster analysis. The results reported here showed that the statistical method employed influences the level of replicability and comparability of a study and that the availability of results may be a valid alternative to reduce bias.
publishDate 2016
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2016-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/66792
Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias; Francischini, Heitor; Kuhn, Lidia Aumond; Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho; Michels, Fernando Heck; et al.; Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies; Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia; Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia; 19; 3; 12-2016; 449-464
1519-7530
2236-1715
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/66792
identifier_str_mv Do Nascimento Ritter, Matias; Francischini, Heitor; Kuhn, Lidia Aumond; Da Luz, Nathália Carvalho; Michels, Fernando Heck; et al.; Operator bias and replicability in comparative taphonomic studies; Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia; Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia; 19; 3; 12-2016; 449-464
1519-7530
2236-1715
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv spa
language spa
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.4072/rbp.2016.3.10
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://www.sbpbrasil.org/revista/edicoes/19_3/10_Ritter%20et%20al_pg449a464_online.pdf
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Sociedade Brasileira de Paleontologia
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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