Data dictionary and design

Calf feeding and growth

Synthetic teaching data. All observations are invented, not the source paper’s raw data.

Researchers house 64 calves in eight pens, with eight calves per pen. In each pen they randomly assign four calves to each milk-feeding strategy. An identification-controlled feeder gives each calf its assigned strategy, so pen-mates can receive different strategies. Researchers measure baseline weight before assigning strategies, then weigh each calf at weeks 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10. Each calf stays on the same strategy. Calves share their pen environment, and the five weights from one calf describe that same calf over time.

Researchers assign feeding strategy to each calf: 64 calf assignments, 32 per strategy. They do not assign one strategy to an entire pen. The eight shared pens and repeated calf weights still need to be considered when describing uncertainty.

Column	Unit/type	Meaning
calf_id	ID	C001–C064; stable across five rows
pen_id	ID	Cpen01–Cpen08; eight calves per pen
strategy	category	flat or step_down; one individually assigned strategy per calf
baseline_kg	kg	pre-allocation body weight; repeated in each calf row
week	weeks	2,4,6,8,10 after enrolment
weight_kg	kg	body weight at the indicated week

No values are missing; NA is the missing-value convention if a group adds external data. IDs are invented and contain no personal information. Rows are complete by construction; this does not imply missingness is harmless in a real experiment. No weights, outcomes or sample sizes were calibrated to published results.