Getting the statistics correct.

[Orchidectomy]

Can anybody advise whether there is a standardised way of counting the number of consecutive days when AB has soiled their diaper and/or pooped their pants? Maybe at first sight a silly question, but how do you tally this?:

Three consecutive days with pooped pants, followed by one day constipated, followed by four consecutive days with a soiled diaper. Is that one "run" of three plus one "run" of four, or one run of seven, or one run of eight?  Or what?

And what if AB poops more than once in a 24-hour day?

In the example, assume that neither a grown-up's toilet nor a potty was used over the same eight-day period.

I'm presently keeping records, but I curious to know what you think about analysing the results. (And yes, there is a pun on "anal" hiding in there!)

[rusty pins]

Seems easy to me.  Start at midnight each date and end at midnight each date.  During those 24 hours if that person's diaper (or pants) have been pooped in, that counts as a day.  If it's too hard to tell starting at midnight because you may have already gone to bed, change the starting and ending time to, say, 10:00PM instead.  As long as the person has pooped their pants or diaper within those 24 hours, it counts as a day.  If, due to constipation or using a toilet the person has not soiled his diaper or pants (and I mean pooping in them, not a skid mark) within those 24 hours, it does not count.  If the person has pooped his pants or diaper 8 days in a row within each 24 hour period, that counts as 8 consecutive days.  If on the 9th day he does not poop his pants or diaper, it does not count and day 10 starts right back at day 1 of consecutive pants/diaper pooping.  Simple.

[Orchidectomy]

That sounds fine at first, Rusty, but what about those who do not have regular daily bowel movements? Especially in places where a large proportion of the diet is high-starch rice, many only poop every other day. Your method of counting would, I suggest, never see them exceeding 1.

Might it not be fairer to keep a tally of the number of consecutive days not using either an adult toilet or a potty?  This would negate the old childhood trick of 'holding on' - using bowel movement as a way to prove independence from one's carer. Well, independence unless the standard "parental" response is a suppository or an enema!

[rusty pins]

"Can anybody advise whether there is a standardized way of counting the number of consecutive days when AB has soiled their diaper and/or pooped their pants? Maybe at first sight a silly question, but how do you tally this?"

"And what if AB poops more than once in a 24-hour day?"

You didn't say anything about regular bowel movements other than constipation.  Your question was about counting the number of consecutive days when an AB has soiled their diaper or pooped their pants.  My answer still applies to that question.  If they do not have a regular bowel movement for whatever reason, then they have not pooped their pants or soiled their diaper.  I understand your meaning though.  You question seems to be, would it have counted as a day of soiling themselves if they had not been constipated.  Had they not been constipated due to their diet or other reasons, they would have pooped in their pants or diaper.  You still can't really count that because it didn't happen unless you want to change your statistics description to say, "Well, it would have happened had he not been constipated".  You can't say for sure it would have happened or not.  It probably would have, but it's still a day with no poop in the diaper or pants, so technically you have to thrown that day in the "No Soiled Diaper" category.  Your original question also states, " the number of consecutive days when AB has soiled their diaper and/or pooped their pants".  It said number of days, not the number of times he pooped himself in a day.  I say if you are keeping a tally of how many days in a row someone poops his diaper or pants, then that counts as a day no matter if he poops in it once or 3 times within that 24 hour period.  Otherwise you keep a daily tally of how many times the person in question poops his pants or diaper within that 24 hour period, not how many days in a row he poops his pants.