Using the TRS‑80 Model 100 Portable Computer as a Data Collection Device (1985)
©1985, 2013 by Dallas Denny, James Fox, & Mary McEvoy
Source: Denny, Dallas, Fox, James, & McEvoy, Mary. (1985). Using the TRS‑80 Model 100 portable computer as a data collection device. Association for Behavior Analysis National Meeting, Columbus, OH, 24‑27 May.
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with the TRS-80 Model 100 and 102 portable computers
USING THE TRS-80 MODEL 100 PORTABLE COMPUTER
AS A DATA COLLECTION DEVICE
By Dallas Denny, James Fox, and Mary McEvoy
George Peabody College of Vanderbilt University
BOSCO, The Behavioral Observation System— COmputerized, allows the TRS-8O Model 100 portable computer to be used as a relatively inexpensive data collection device instead of more expensive dedicated devices such as ElectroGeneral’s DATAMYTE and Observational Systems’ OS-3. BOSCO, a program written in BASIC for the Model 100 with expanded memory, has been used to collect real-time behavioral data in field research studies. BOSCO allows definition of up to 99 different behaviors; during observation, the code corresponding to a behavior is entered by an observer, and the code is associated with the current time of the real-time clock built into the Model 100. Up to 300 entries are allowed in each data file, and about 10 data files can be accumulated in memory before it becomes necessary to save them to tape or transfer them to another computer for storage and analysis. Data are saved in a form compatible with the CARTLO* program. Using the built-in modem and telecommunications software of the Model 100, the data is electronically transferred from the Model 100 to a TRS-8O Model III computer and analyzed with CARTLO. The built-in printer interface of the Model 100 also allows a hard copy of the data to be obtained.
On display are a Model 100 computer running BOSCO, sample data from an ongoing study, and hard copies of raw and analyzed data.
Reference
* Semmel, M.S., & Frick, T. (1980). CARTLO: Computer-Assisted Research into Teaching-Learning Outcomes. Center for Innovation in Teaching the Handicapped. School of Education, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN.