observation method

• CURIE: gmeow:observationMethod
• IRI: https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/observationMethod
• Category: property
• Defined by: gmeow:slices/observations
• Box roles: RBox role (What is this?)

The method or protocol used to produce the observation. Functional: one method per observation (compound protocols are modelled as a single fused method individual, e.g. 'GPS-RTK survey with ground control'). Distinct from gmeow:vantage: the method is how it was done, the vantage is who did it.

Structure

Property shape: object property; gmeow:Observation -> gmeow:ObservationMethod; functional

Practical Pattern

Use gmeow:observationMethod from gmeow:Observation to gmeow:ObservationMethod when the relationship itself belongs in the native GMEOW graph.

Example Snippets

These snippets are generated from canonical slice examples and trimmed to the Turtle blocks where this term appears.

Temperature Reading

• Source: slices/core/observations/examples/temperature-reading.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-core-observations-examples-temperature-reading

# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Blackcat Informatics® Inc. <paudley@blackcatinformatics.ca>
# SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0
#
# Worked example: a measurement is a reified Observation ( P11). A
# gmeow:Measurement records WHAT was observed (gmeow:observedFeature), HOW
# (gmeow:observationMethod), and from WHERE (gmeow:vantage — the sensor). Its
# result is NOT a bare number on the observation: the scalar lives in an
# entity-valued gmeow:ScalarQuantity wrapper that bundles the value with its UNIT
# and uncertainty, so a temperature is never asserted free-floating (P11 — every
# value carries its frame). The unit is aligned to QUDT by reference (P5).
@prefix gmeow: <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/> .
@prefix ex:    <https://blackcatinformatics.ca/gmeow/examples/observations/> .
@prefix xsd:   <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .

# --- The measurement: observed feature, method, vantage, and an entity result.
ex:reading a gmeow:Measurement ;
    gmeow:observedFeature   ex:room ;
    gmeow:observationMethod gmeow:methodInstrumentalReading ;
    gmeow:vantage           ex:sensor ;
    gmeow:observationResult ex:temp .

Spatial Bins

• Source: slices/extensions/aggregation/examples/spatial-bins.ttl
• Examples catalog: open in catalog#example-slices-extensions-aggregation-examples-spatial-bins

# --- The aggregation: average household size over the region, by survey, with a
#     1000-person minimum-population floor for safe publication.
ex:householdAgg a gmeow:SpatialAggregation ;
    gmeow:observedFeature     ex:metro ;
    gmeow:vantage             ex:censusBureau ;
    gmeow:observationMethod   gmeow:methodSurvey ;
    gmeow:aggregationFunction gmeow:aggAverage ;
    gmeow:minimumPopulation   "1000"^^xsd:nonNegativeInteger ;
    gmeow:hasBin              ex:downtownBin ;
    gmeow:observationResult   ex:avgHouseholdSize .

Common Companion Terms

gmeow:Observation, gmeow:ObservationMethod

External Equivalences

Equivalent or closely aligned targets: crm, obi, oboe, sosa

Linkages

Generated from the canonical mapping DSL. SSSOM files are the generated public interchange form for term equivalences.

Term Equivalences

Usage Advice

Use when

• Use to record HOW an observation was produced — the protocol, technique, or instrument — naming a gmeow:ObservationMethod individual so consumers can filter by method and weigh readings accordingly.

Avoid when

• Avoid for WHO made it (gmeow:vantage) or WHAT KIND of claim it is (gmeow:observationType); and because it is functional, model a compound protocol as one fused method individual rather than asserting several methods on one observation.

How to use

• Point the observation at a single gmeow:ObservationMethod (generic methods are seeded here; domain ladders such as gmeow:DatingMethod live in their own slices); changing the method is a different observation, since the method is constitutive of its identity.

Examples

• ex:reading gmeow:observationMethod gmeow:methodInstrumentalReading.