Critical analysis:
Name of the authors: Geoff R. MacFarlane; Simon P. Blomberg and Paul L. Vasey
Title of the article: Homosexual behavior in birds: frequency of expression is related to parental care disparity between the sexes
Journal title: Animal Behavior
Volume: 80
Year: 2010
Page numbers: 375-390
Statement of problem: to see how male and female polygynous and monogamous birds exhibit homosexual behavior relative to parental care.
Author purpose, method, hypothesis, and conclusion:
The paper tends to find out about homosexual behavior in birds. According to the findings and literature review about one hundred and thirty species of birds living on earth exhibit homosexual sexual behavior. Birds that exhibit homosexual behavior have a higher desire to form a mate that to be involved in parental care. Homosexual birds show less responsibility and desire to show parental care while they have more desire to indulge in mating experiences. Homosexual behavior tends to be different for polygynous and monogamous birds. Polygynous birds are those birds that tend to have more than one partner in their lifetime. They keep on changing their partners. While monogamous birds have only one partner for their lifetime. The author of the article tends to find out whether homosexual behavior affects parental care and matting experiences. The author concludes that polygynous birds have greater interest in mating experiences than in assuming parental responsibilities. Polygynous species that show very minimal parental care have a greater desire to involve in mating experiences. This is particularly true for male species. Male-male mating tends to be common in the polygynous special that exhibits minimal parental care. In monogamous birds, males show a greater desire towards taking care of their offspring and female partner. Male-male mating desires tend to decrease when male monogamous birds show greater interest in taking care of their female partners. However male-0male bonding desire increases when male monogamous birds show less care towards their female partners. Female behaviors are different in both monogamous and polygynous birds. Female monogamous birds who show less care towards their male partners exhibit homosexual behavior and indulge themselves in mating experiences. In polygynous birds, female birds who exhibit and assume parental care and responsibilities are less likely to indulge themselves in mating experiences (MacFarlane, Blomberg, & Vasey, 2010).
Hypothesis: How homosexual behavior is related to parental care and mating experiences.
How male and female monogamous and polygynous birds differ in their behavior regarding parental care and mating experiences.
Research method: to test the hypothesis, the author has analyzed literature from various published and authentic reports. Based on the literature gathered, the author has performed statistical tests including covariance and regression to justify the results.
Critical analysis:
The title of the article provides a clear purpose for the research. The title suggests that the author tends to research homosexual behavior in birds relative to their parental care and mating experiences. The abstract captures the true essence and purpose of the paper. It mentions the Hypothesis to be verified along with results obtained after carefully carrying out the study. The author has used covariance and regression to verify the hypothesis. I believe that both these methods do not find out the cause of homosexual behavior. Also, these methods do not identify the frequency of mating desire among polygynous and monogamous birds like the author has mentioned about the frequency of mating desires among birds in the results sections. The results are quite clear since the author has mentioned complete details about statistical figures and their interpretations. Literature review only compiles relevant data without getting into irrelevant information. The paper is concise yet clear. The author has focused on monogamous and polygynous birds with extreme monogamous and polygynous behaviors. The author could have highlighted birds whose behaviors lie in between polygynous and monogamous behaviors. These sections need to be elaborated. In my view, the research design and method were quite appropriate since the author used published literature. But it would have been more effective if the author had combined field experience or had studied the behaviors of birds in real settings.
References
MacFarlane, G. R., Blomberg, S. P., & Vasey, P. L. (2010). Homosexual behavior in birds: frequency of expression is related to parental care disparity between the sexes. Animal Behaviour, 80, 375-390.
