Core Concepts¶

Research context¶

A study and a registry are peer research contexts. Both can collect data and deliver participant work, but their membership, consent, time horizon, and operational lifecycle differ. Data and authority remain attributable to the context that created them.

Person, participant, and account¶

A person may participate in more than one context. A participant is the person's membership in a specific study or registry; an account is an authentication anchor. The participant experience composes relevant work without erasing the underlying context boundaries.

Definition, version, and release¶

A definition describes a form, task, consent document, schedule, or other reusable configuration. Editing creates a draft version. Review and release make a version eligible for use; a study or registry then pins the released version. Historical responses keep the version that governed collection.

FormSpec¶

FormSpec is Metricis' native, JSON-based form contract. It defines fields, sections, validation, branching, computed behavior, and stable identifiers for the shared researcher and participant renderers. FormSpec is distinct from response data and from the binding that schedules a form in a research context.

ChangeSet¶

A ChangeSet is a reviewable proposal to modify governed configuration. It can be authored by a person or drafted by an enabled assistant. Validation, diffs, provenance, and approval make the transition inspectable; an assistant does not release its own proposal.

Consent is not only a signed document. Metricis represents versions, authority, signatures, purpose choices, re-consent requirements, withdrawal, and the operational effects of those choices. Services check whether the required purpose authorizes a requested operation.

Source record and derived data¶

A source record preserves the collected value, actor, time, context, and governing version. Scores, features, reports, and exports are derived products with their own algorithm or transformation provenance. Derived output does not overwrite source history.

Quality state¶

Validation findings, queries, verification, signatures, and locks are distinct states. A value can be syntactically valid while still awaiting review, queried, unverified, or unlocked. Metricis keeps those concerns separate so monitoring history remains reconstructable.

Snapshot and manifest¶

A governed export is a data product created at a point in time. Its snapshot identifies the selected records and policy; its manifest records schema, versions, filters, transformations, checksums, and provenance needed to interpret or reproduce the product.