Wildlife management studies often compare relative use and availability of resources (e.g., habitats). When resources are used disproportionately to availability, use is said to be selective. Designs and analyses for resource selection studies are reviewed and compared with respect to the type of data collected, underlying assumptions, weighting of observations, distributional requirements and usefulness in comparing selection among subgroups or time periods. Common misuses of analyses are noted. Practical problems in studying resource selection, such as which resources to consider, the choice of study area, and spatial and temporal dependencies, are discussed and suggestions for future development are given.

Key Words
Chi-square analyses; Compositional data; Polytomous logistic regression; Preference; Selection functions; Use versus availability.

J. Richard Alldredge is Professor, Program in Statistics, Washington State University, P.O. Box 643144, Pullman, WA 99164-3144 (E-mail: alldredg@wsu.edu). Dana L. Thomas is Professor of Statistics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, P.O. Box 756660, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775-6660 (E-mail: ffdlt@uaf.edu). Lyman L. McDonald is President of Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., 2003 Central Ave., Cheyenne, WY 82001 (E-mail: lymanmcd@uswest.net).