Three-Way Nested Data for Age Determination Techniques Applied to Cetaceans

Abstract

In the previous case study, we showed how multiple samples from bacteria in honey bees from the same hive gave a nested data structure, and mixed modelling techniques were applied to allow for correlations between observations from the same hive. The bee data provided an example of two-way nested data, and the underlying theory for this was discussed in Chapter 5. In this chapter, we go one step further and use three-way nested data, which extends the two-way approach discussed in Chapter 5. The underlying theory builds on the approach used for two-way data, and we recommend reading Chapter 5 before starting this chapter as we assume familiarity with the theory, model selection, and R code for two-way nested data.