As part of the on-going verification of the performance information being added to your database, we check the variation in performance records between animals within a contemporary group. These groups should represent animals of similar type that have had equal opportunity to perform under similar conditions.
A certain degree of variation in performance is expected within each group, the amount depending upon the trait measured (for statistics enthusiasts, the limits are defined by standard deviations).
When the difference between a performance record for an animal and the average of all animals in the contemporary group is greater than we would normally expect for the trait measured, the record for this animal is flagged as an outlier and is excluded from the TransTasman Angus Cattle Evaluation (TACE) analysis.
We have set these outlier limits fairly wide so that the likelihood of valid records being flagged as outliers is slim. Outliers can occur for several reasons, such as coding/punching errors, an incorrect measurement being recorded,incorrectly defined management groups or data entry errors.
The attached report lists contemporary groups in your herd in which outliers have been identified. The outlier animals are marked in bold with the symbol # in both the left hand and right hand margins and adjacent to the Raw Observation. Also reported are the other animals with which the outlier animals have been directly compared. Different contemporary groups are separated in this report by blank lines.This report gives you the opportunity to correct or verify the performance for the animals that have been flagged as outliers and also to confirm the management groups recorded for these animals.
Please check each group of records carefully and report back to staff at Angus Australia. Simply write a letter or make notes on the Outlier report relating to:
Please note. If you do not contact us to correct or verify these outlier records, the records will be excluded from future TACE analyses.
Most of the headings are self-explanatory. However, a few points to remember
Note: the ADJUSTED performance data (Adjusted Obsn) will be different to the RAW performance data (Raw Obsn), and the outlier refers to the trait described in the Trait column!
Individual things to look for in the data are:
Remember, if you do nothing, the outlier record will remain excluded! If you do not check these records and notify Angus Australia of the corrections or verification of the data, then the Outlier records will remain excluded from all future TACE analyses.