Data management

The data file CS1Data1 produced from the original source data contains data on recorded milk offtake for each cow and the reported age of her calf. These offtakes were measured in cows residing in a number of households (sometimes more than one cow per household) in various villages in Bilisa and Assa locations, respectively. These locations have been coded as 1 and 2, respectively.

TOTALM, the sum of morning and afternoon recordings, is also included in the file. Although easy to calculate at the time of recording, and perhaps of interest to do so, only the individual morning and afternoon values need to be entered initially into the data file. Variables that can be calculated from other variables are best done by computer. This saves unnecessary work and reduces mistakes during data collection and entry.

The data file CS1Data2 contains a number of variables extracted and derived from the questionnaires CS1Quest1 and CS1Quest2. The data file is divided into four spreadsheets for the purpose of analysis. The second spread sheet contains the original data and an edited version (see later) is contained in the first spreadsheet. Separate work sheets are then prepared for Bilisa and Assa.