All of our data are stored in a Microsoft-Access database1 that we developed for this purpose. For those readers unfamiliar with this program, the database consists of different tables for the different categories of information collected during the study, which are linked hierarchically because they share several of the same fields or categories. Access allows you to create input forms that are exactly like the data collection sheets and questionnaires used in the field; and then it stores the entered data in these separate but linked tables. Access then allows you to manipulate the data by creating new tables that combine fields from the original data tables, such as a species list for each garden or even for the village. Our current database consists of the following tables:
Village: table to insert all descriptive attributes of the community/village and where gardeners have been interviewed;
• Farm: table to insert all descriptive attributes of the farm and where gardeners have been interviewed;
• Homegarden: table to insert all attributes of the homegardens (e.g., size, fence type, slope, distance to nearest shop), its management (e.g., fertilization, irrigation), and its history (e.g., changes in size, purpose, species composition);
• Gardener: table to insert the attributes of the gardeners (e.g., gender, age, profession, higher education; reasons for gardening);
• Ethnobotany: table to insert knowledge recorded from gardeners on each plant species (e.g., local name, use, propagation methods); and
• Botany: table to insert information on each plant species and its attributes from literature (e.g., scientific name, life form, if annual, biannual, or perennial). Fields of the tables are linked, so that data are inserted just once, which is faster and reduces the chances of error. For example, scientific names of plants are inserted only once in the respective field of the botany table. The list of plant names is carefully checked there. As data for the use of a specific plant are entered in the ethnobotany table, the field of the scientific name has to be filled in only with the first letters of the name and then the correct name is chosen from a menu drawn from the botany table. While this method of storing data may seem complicated at first, we find it to be extremely versatile for generating input and output forms and analyses and for saving time and reducing errors in entering the data.
Answers to all your Biology Questions
