ABSTRACT
Data are collected from any object of interest in order to capture salient features of overall form and characteristics of specific regions defined by the scientific problem under study. The purpose of the study might be descriptive, exploratory, comparative, or explanatory, and the type of data used may vary with the purpose of the analysis. In Part 1 of this chapter, we introduce a variety of morphometric data types, but we emphasize landmark data. Because we are primarily concerned with biological inquiry, we explore the biological meaning of landmarks, then discuss various methods of landmark data collection, including some pitfalls, and provide a design for measurement error studies. In Part 2 of this chapter, we give a brief introduction to matrix algebra to clarify the mathematics necessary to work with landmark data. These concepts are then used to develop generalized approaches to the study of measurement error for landmark data.
