Re: gender ratio experiment.

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at cornell_edu>]

Clint,

I don't think this is a discussion that is limited to scientists. I think 
most of us would agree that raising fry in duos is more work and trouble 
than raising them in groups. Therefore it would be useful for hobbyists to 
know if there is any basis for going to that effort. We have been 
discussing the most practical yet valid ways to determine the validity of 
the method. We have, as a group, agreed (I think) that one needs to compare 
how many duos produce pairs compared to non-pairs and compared to the ratio 
in a conventional group of fry raised together. We have also agreed that we 
should try to control other variables while recognizing that our ability to 
do so is limited because this is an experiment with multiple participants. 
In science, you can never control all of the variables. You try to limit 
them, then you draw conclusions with some statistical level of confidence.

This is a hobbyist driven experiment and it is doable by hobbyists. I 
encourage anyone who is working with some species that produces biased 
ratios of males and females to work with Dave in collating your 
experiences. Even if the results are inconclusive trends might emerge, and 
if you decide to try it despite the results, then of course you can do so. 
You never know, the results might be very obviously positive, at least for 
some species.

Barry

At 08:01 PM 6/30/2003 -0700, you wrote:
> I am sure that this discussion is facinating to the scientests in our group.
> However, some of us are just looking for some females (or males).  I for one
> have embarked upon my own experiment and if I get some females then I was
> successful.  I you don't want my "data" because it was not valid, does that
> mean that I didn't get the females that I despirately needed?  I would like
> to thank everyone for the idea of trying two fry at a time.  I would not
> have thought of it myself.  If it works, great.  If not, then oh well I
> still will have the same number of fry that I started with, just more
> bother.
> Clint
>
>
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Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Adjunct faculty, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu)


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