RMP.4:4.3 - Connect actual conduct, transformations and uses

Trace one consequential result or planned comparison back to its material. Identify the actual observation, source, encounter or computation and the selection or transformation between it and the receiving use.

For observations, retain the specimen, case, participant, site or sample identity at the permitted precision, together with the conditions needed to interpret it. Keep raw indications, qualified measurement results and derived values distinguishable. FPF C.16 supplies measurement discipline; a spreadsheet cell alone does not establish its unit, uncertainty or qualification.

For sources, distinguish a catalogue description from a document actually inspected. Preserve source and edition, locator, dating and provenance, the selection reason and any relevant transcription or translation. Keep contrary material and unexamined source families visible where they affect the question.

For transformations, retain the input–operation–output connection at the granularity the examination needs. Identify consequential filtering, recoding, deduplication, aggregation, translation, manual correction and model or computational steps. Preserve the actual version and parameters when they can change the result. FPF A.10 supplies the general claim-bound evidence/provenance discipline; this pattern makes the inquiry’s actual research-use connections recoverable.

For computation, a useful trace can connect input versions, code and environment dependencies, parameters or seeds where relevant, the particular run and its outputs. Include relevant failures and manual interventions. An executable script plus a data folder does not by itself identify the run behind a displayed result.

For qualitative work, retain the grounding material and the researcher’s consequential interpretations and changes under the selected approach. Researcher positioning or a change in questioning may be essential evidence; a universal coding-agreement score may not be appropriate.

For evidence synthesis, preserve searches as performed: sources or platforms, dates, query versions and resulting material, followed by screening, duplicate handling, exclusions and extraction changes. This supports examination of how the corpus was obtained. It does not perform appraisal or synthesis merely by recording their intended Methods.

In a mixed inquiry, preserve each component’s trace and the actual combining or interpretive choices. Expose shared data and assumptions. Two streams of records do not establish independent corroboration if both depend on the same selected participants or retrospective source.