Skip to main content

Research Infrastructure

iAm provides a complete research data management system for running multi-day studies with multiple participants. This page describes the project, cohort, and collection task entities that form the research layer of the platform.

Research Entities​

Project​

A Project represents a single atomic research endeavor. It serves as the parent to all data collection activities.

  • Owned by a User (the principal investigator)
  • Contains one or more Cohorts
  • Links to Observers enrolled in the study
  • Can produce Publications that cite the measurement definitions used

Cohort​

A Cohort groups participants within a Project. Projects can have as many cohorts as needed.

Common uses:

  • Control vs. experimental groups: Different cohorts for different conditions
  • Longitudinal waves: Different cohorts for different time periods
  • Skill levels: Grouping by meditation experience, for example

Each Cohort:

  • Contains one or more CollectionTasks
  • Links to the Observers (participants) assigned to it
  • Defines the measurement protocol for its members

CollectionTask​

A CollectionTask defines a single measurement requirement for participants.

CollectionTaskState​

For each participant assigned to a CollectionTask, a CollectionTaskState tracks their progress.

  • Links to the Observer (participant) and their completed measurements
  • Tracks how many completions out of the required total
  • All Observer measurements for a given CollectionTask are linked through this entity

Relationship Structure​

Project
  │
  ├── HAS → Cohort (Control Group)
  │           ├── HAS → CollectionTask (7x Verbal Thought Sessions)
  │           │           └── HAS → CollectionTaskState (per observer)
  │           │                       ├── HAS → Observer
  │           │                       └── HAS → Session, Survey, or Sequence
  │           ├── HAS → CollectionTask (Pre/Post FFMQ-15)
  │           └── HAS → Observer (participants)
  │
  └── HAS → Cohort (Experimental Group)
              ├── HAS → CollectionTask (...)
              └── HAS → Observer (participants)

Study Protocol Example: CRAWL​

The CRAWL (Conscious Reporting of Awareness With Logging) pilot study demonstrates how these entities work together in a real 5-day protocol:

Project: "CRAWL" -- studying verbal thought patterns around meditation practice

Cohort: Single cohort with all participants

Collection Tasks:

  1. Complete a daily Sequence (5 times total) containing:
    • Toronto Mindfulness Scale (pre-practice survey)
    • Pre-practice verbal thought tracking session (5 min)
    • Nostril breath awareness meditation session (20 min)
    • Post-practice verbal thought tracking session (5 min)
    • Toronto Mindfulness Scale (post-practice survey)
    • Meditation Depth Index (survey)
    • Reflective awareness survey
  2. Complete baseline questionnaires (Day 1 only):
    • Onboarding survey
    • FFMQ-15
    • WEMWBS
  3. Complete post-study questionnaires (Day 5 only):
    • FFMQ-15 (post)
    • WEMWBS (post)
    • Feedback survey

Each participant's progress through these tasks is tracked via CollectionTaskState entities, with all completed Sessions, Surveys, and Sequences linked back to the research infrastructure.

Additional Research Features​

Publications​

Publication entities link research papers to specific type definitions used in iAm. This creates a bidirectional connection between academic work and the measurement instruments, enabling evidence-based refinement of experience definitions.

Participant Codes​

ParticipantCodeRecord entities manage study enrollment codes, linking anonymous participant identifiers to Observer entities within a Project.

Presets​

Preset entities save configurations for quick session setup -- storing specific ExperienceType selections, duration preferences, and other parameters. Useful for ensuring consistent protocol deployment across participants.

Querying Research Data​

Get all sessions for a project​

MATCH (project:Project {uniqueName: "CRAWL"})
  -[:HAS]->(cohort:Cohort)
  -[:HAS]->(observer:Observer)
  -[:HAS]->(session:Session)
RETURN observer.alias, session.id, session.startTime, session.endTime
ORDER BY observer.alias, session.startTime

Get collection task completion status​

MATCH (project:Project {uniqueName: "CRAWL"})
  -[:HAS]->(cohort:Cohort)
  -[:HAS]->(task:CollectionTask)
  -[:HAS]->(state:CollectionTaskState)
  -[:HAS]->(observer:Observer)
RETURN observer.alias, task.name, state.completedCount, task.requiredCount

Get survey responses for a specific instrument​

MATCH (project:Project {uniqueName: "CRAWL"})
  -[:HAS]->(cohort:Cohort)
  -[:HAS]->(task:CollectionTask)
  -[:IMPLEMENTS]->(stv:SurveyTypeVersion {name: "FFMQ-15"})
MATCH (cohort)-[:HAS]->(observer:Observer)
MATCH (observer)<-[:HAS]-(survey:Survey)-[:IMPLEMENTS]->(stv)
MATCH (survey)-[:REPORTED]->(response:Response)-[:TO]->(question:Question)
RETURN observer.alias, question.prompt, response.value
ORDER BY observer.alias, question.index