Forms and Governed Data Capture

Metricis uses FormSpec as its native form definition and runtime contract. The same versioned definition can support researcher-entered, participant-entered, and diary-style workflows while preserving stable field identity and response provenance.

Form lifecycle

1. Draft — create or import fields, sections, branching, validation, calculations, and metadata.
2. Validate — lint identifiers, rules, references, mappings, translations, and renderer compatibility.
3. Review — inspect diffs, provenance, and the effect on existing study/registry bindings.
4. Release — make an immutable version eligible for new bindings or an approved change.
5. Pin — bind the released version to an event, schedule, diary, or other research workflow.
6. Collect — store responses with the governing version, actor, context, timestamps, and completion state.
7. Correct or lock — use auditable transitions rather than silently rewriting history.

Authoring paths

Forms can be authored in the platform, imported through supported workflows, or proposed as a ChangeSet by the feature-gated study assistant. Regardless of origin, the released FormSpec—not the authoring interface—is the contract used for delivery and reconstruction.

Field behavior

FormSpec supports structured sections, typed fields, required rules, branching, calculations, validation, stable identifiers, and localization metadata. Shared renderers interpret the contract for staff entry, participant questionnaires, and low-burden diary presentation.

Change classification

Changing labels or presentation is not equivalent to changing field identity, allowed values, branching, calculation, schedule, or meaning. Metricis classifies and reviews changes so a revision can trigger the appropriate action: a new release, migration, re-consent review, compatibility warning, or prohibition after collection.

Collection governance

• Research context, site, role, and participant access are checked server-side.
• Consent purpose is enforced for participant-data operations.
• Draft, complete, reviewed, signed, and locked states remain distinct.
• Corrections record actor, reason, prior value, new value, and time.
• Queries and source-data verification remain linked to the record version reviewed.
• Offline submissions use idempotent identities and preserve client timing/provenance.

See Data quality and monitoring, Core concepts, and AI-assisted authoring.