U‐CARE: Utilities for performing goodness of fit tests and manipulating CApture–REcapture data

Abstract

In any statistical analysis, assessing the goodness of fit of a model to the data is crucial to avoid drawing incorrect conclusions. U‐CARE is a computer application that deals with the mandatory first steps of the analyses of capture–recapture data: the preparation of the data set and the assessment of the fit of a general model (Cormack‐Jolly‐Seber and variants for single‐state data; Jolly‐Move and variants for multi‐state data). U‐CARE implements the current state of the art in goodness‐of‐fit testing by incorporating components aimed at detecting the most likely departures from assumptions (). It is a free and stand‐alone application for Windows.