科研之友
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摘要
In veterinary research a trend towards interdisciplinary projects is apparent. Apart from experimentally investigated factors, numerous environmental factors may confound the obtained study results. The present study characterises the differences and similarities of features in the laying hen husbandry system of five field stations, which were part of a consortium project that investigated enriched colony housing for laying hens.
Data were collected using a standardised questionnaire via face-to-face interviews. The variables were grouped into contextual subsets (poultry premises, light, climate, facility structure, nutrition, management, health/hygiene, and workforce), and after a preselection process, a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis was performed. Although all field stations were operated for similar research reasons, heterogeneity between the field stations was observed. Within the different contextual subsets similarity of individual field stations was visible. Thus it is shown, that it depended on the context, which field stations had similar environmental settings. This in-deep analysis showed exemplarily, how a multisite study may be subject to heterogeneous influences of farm management despite preliminary adjustment in study design. This example shows that the conditions under which a study is conducted should not be ignored. Future studies should therefore assess differences of study locations. This would allow an adjustment of the environmental settings to achieve homogeneity, or stratification according to similarity of equipment features in the respective context. Including such a "site effect" generally in the multifactorial analysis may reduce confounding bias if present and hence improve the validity of the observed results.
- 出版日期2016-12
