Koster Dataset

These are data collected by Koster and Leckie (2014) on food sharing among 25 indigenous Nicaraguan households.

The relational data ("Koster data") include:

• Food_sharing: The number of times that a gift of meat was given from one household to another.
• Association_index: As based on "spot check" observational data, a normalized measure of the time that
members of the respective households spend affiliating with one another
• Mother_offspring_tie: Household dyads in which there is a mother in one household and her biological
offspring residing in the other
• Full_sibling_tie: Household dyads in which there is an individual in one household with a full sibling (purportedly
sharing the same mother and father) in the other household. This categorization assumes that there is not a
mother-offspring tie connecting the two households.
• Close_kin_ties: Household dyads in which there is an individual in one household with a close genetic relative in
the other household. These ties are commonly relationships between aunts and uncles in one household and
their nieces and nephews in other households. This categorization assumes that there is not a mother-offspring
tie or a full sibling tie connecting the two households.
• Other_kin_ties: Household dyads in which there is an individual in one household with a noteworthy genetic tie
to an individual in the other household. These ties are commonly relationships between cousins in the
respective households. This categorization assumes that there is not a mother-offspring tie, a full sibling tie, or a
close kin tie connecting the households.
• Distance: The distance in meters between the households. Note that Household 8 is located across the river
from all other households.
• Offset: Not all households remained in the community for the full calendar year. This variable denotes the
number of days (maximum = 365) that the households were simultaneously residing in the community.

The attributes file (Koster attributes) contain these variables:

• Game_kg_per_day: The average amount of harvested wildlife acquired per day by members of the household,
measured in kilograms
• Fish_kg_per_day: The average amount of harvested fish acquired per day by members of the household,
measured in kilograms
• Average_pig_ownership: The number of pigs owned by the household, as averaged from multiple censuses
throughout the calendar year
• Wealth_index: A measure of the household's material wealth, as drawn from rankings conducted with members
of the community. Higher numbers indicate greater wealth.
• Pastor_residence: A categorical variable denoting the respective households in which the community's two
pastors reside
• X_coordinate: A modified latitude coordinate (UTM) for the household's geographic location
• Y_coordinate: A modified longitude coordinate (UTM) for the household's geographic location

References

Koster, Jeremy M., and George Leckie. "Food sharing networks in lowland Nicaragua: An application of the social
relations model to count data." Social Networks 38 (2014): 100-110.