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Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,11 +1,25 @@
<!-- SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-SA-4.0 -->

# Bounded method catalogue, v1 — DRAFT for owner approval
# Bounded method catalogue, v1

**Status: DRAFT. Not approved, not implemented.** Issue #1 requires the bounded
**Status: APPROVED on 2026-09-22; not yet implemented.** Issue #1 requires the bounded
catalogue and its supported/unsupported conditions to be approved *before* methods are
implemented. This document is the artefact to approve or amend, not a claim that the
catalogue is settled.
implemented. This is that approval.

**What was approved, and by whom.** The repository owner (Jonathan D.A. Jewell,
`@hyperpolymath`) approved this catalogue **without amendment** on 2026-09-22. The file
was named `method-catalogue-v1-draft.md` until then; the text is the text that was
approved, and renaming it records the decision rather than altering it.

**Approval covers**: the v1 scope (items 1–3 below), the per-method publication list as
the acceptance gate for each method, and the reading that a descriptive summary is the
correct default whenever the information needed for valid inference is missing.

**Approval does not cover**: item 4 (exact statistical tests, tracked separately in #3),
any method not listed here, or the symbolic work (#2), which remains blocked pending this
layer's validation. Approval is of *scope and gate*, not of method behaviour — each
method still publishes its supported/unsupported conditions before it is implemented, and
nothing is implemented merely by appearing in this list.

## What is already in the application

Expand All @@ -20,7 +34,7 @@ means something specific.
| NMDS ordination | `src/analysis/analysis.jl` | distance matrix | vegan, via the locked R runtime |
| PERMANOVA | `src/analysis/analysis.jl` | distance matrix + grouping | vegan; exchangeability of the permutation units is the standing caveat |

## Proposed v1 additions, in dependency order
## v1 scope, in dependency order (approved)

1. **Descriptive summaries at exact precision** — counts and proportions as exact
integers/rationals. No inference claimed. Depends only on `numeric_policy.jl`,
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -56,16 +70,20 @@ Every method above will publish, before implementation:
## Explicitly not claimed

- No Poisson/negative-binomial or binomial/beta-binomial model is approved by this
draft for sequencing data; both are candidates requiring review, not defaults.
catalogue for sequencing data; both are candidates requiring review, not defaults.
- "Nonparametric" is a class of methods, not a universal safe distribution and not an
assumption-free alternative. Exchangeability still has to be argued.
- No method is selected by a normality test or by which p-value looks favourable, and
no method is switched silently.
- Higher precision is not exactness (see `numeric-contracts.md`).

## What approval is being asked for
## What approval was given (2026-09-22)

1. The v1 scope above (items 1–3; item 4 stays deferred).
2. The per-method publication list as the acceptance gate for each method.
3. The reading that a descriptive summary is the correct default whenever the
1. ✅ The v1 scope above (items 1–3; item 4 stays deferred to #3).
2. ✅ The per-method publication list as the acceptance gate for each method.
3. ✅ The reading that a descriptive summary is the correct default whenever the
information needed for valid inference is missing.

The next method in the list may now be implemented, and only against these terms. Each
implementation PR carries that method's published conditions, its known-answer and
independent-reference evidence, and its negative controls.
2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/statistics/numeric-contracts.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
**Status:** published, implemented in `src/analysis/numeric_policy.jl` (issue #1).
**Scope:** how numbers become exact, approximate or rounded; what may cross each
boundary; what is refused. Methods and their assumptions are catalogued separately in
`method-catalogue-v1-draft.md`.
`method-catalogue-v1.md`.

## Why this document exists

Expand Down
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