Edit Time: Filtering Data for Analysis

To specify which data you want included in your analysis, click on the Edit Time tab of your data file. This shows a step plot for each day recorded with time (on a 24 hour clock) along the bottom and steps per minute on the vertical axis. Each data line indicates the number of steps taken in 1 minute (if you have recorded at 1 minute intervals).

NOTE: Since the StepWatch only records steps on one leg, to compare stepdata with most reports in the literature you need to multiply the step count by two.

If you are using the Auto Exclude option in Preferences you may see that some days are excluded already. If the data regularly crosses over midnight and you would like it to all appear in one day you may want to use the Shift Time function (under Monitor Utilities).

You can change days and times that are included or excluded (see the caution about partial days below). Left click on any day to open the editing window, and alter the time included or excluded in a variety of ways:

1. Use your cursor to drag the Start Time and Stop Time bars across the plotted data. If you do not see these bars, they are at both ends of your plotted data. Move the cursor to either end until it becomes an "I" shape. Hold the mouse button down, and drag. Release the button when the bar is in the desired location. You can use the digital time controls for fine adjustments.


2. Use the digital time controls by clicking on the hour or minutes indicator for the start or stop time, then click on the arrows to the right of the numbers to control the number.


3. Click the "Include Entire Day," "Exclude this Day," or "Reset to Times Recorded" buttons.


4. Use the "Include" or "Exclude" toggle buttons to control whether the time between your Start and Stop Time bars is included or excluded for analysis.


5. The "Make All Days the Same" check box applies the time selection for this day to all days in your file. This function can save you a lot of time (and clicking) in some circumstances.

When you are satisfied with your time selection, click the OK button.

Caution Be aware that your average statistics for percent time at the various activity levels and percent time inactive are referenced to your included minutes (total time at each level for all days divided by total included minutes for all days). If you are not including entire days or the same amount of time for each day, these results can be misleading.