Observation
Instances of the class Observation are used to specify observations about an entity at a particular time. The principal properties of an Observation are observationAbout, measuredProperty, statType, [[value] and observationDate and measuredProperty. Some but not all Observations represent a QuantitativeValue. Quantitative observations can be about a StatisticalVariable, which is an abstract specification about which we can make observations that are grounded at a particular location and time.
Observations can also encode a subset of simple RDF-like statements (its observationAbout, a StatisticalVariable, defining the measuredPoperty; its observationAbout property indicating the entity the statement is about, and value )
In the context of a quantitative knowledge graph, typical properties could include measuredProperty, observationAbout, observationDate, value, unitCode, unitText, measurementMethod.
Extends: Intangible, QuantitativeValue
Properties
| Property | Expected Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| marginOfError | QuantitativeValue | A marginOfError for an Observation. |
| measuredProperty | Property | The measuredProperty of an Observation, typically via its StatisticalVariable. There are various kinds of applicabl... |
| measurementDenominator | StatisticalVariable | Identifies the denominator variable when an observation represents a ratio or percentage. |
| measurementMethod | DefinedTerm, Text, MeasurementMethodEnum, URL | A subproperty of measurementTechnique that can be used for specifying specific methods, in particular via [MeasurementMethodEnum](https://schema.org.ai... |
| measurementQualifier | Enumeration | Provides additional qualification to an observation. For example, a GDP observation measures the Nominal value. |
| measurementTechnique | DefinedTerm, MeasurementMethodEnum, Text, URL | A technique, method or technology used in an Observation, StatisticalVariable or [Dataset](https://schema.org.ai/Da... |
| observationAbout | Thing, Place | The observationAbout property identifies an entity, often a Place, associated with an [Observation](https://schema.org.ai/Ob... |
| observationDate | DateTime | The observationDate of an Observation. |
| observationPeriod | Text | The length of time an Observation took place over. The format follows P[0-9]*[Y|M|D|h|m|s]. For example, P1Y is Period 1 Year, P3M is Period 3 Months, P3h is Period 3 hours. |
| variableMeasured | Property, StatisticalVariable, Text, PropertyValue | The variableMeasured property can indicate (repeated as necessary) the variables that are measured in some dataset, either described as text or as pairs of identifier and description using Propert... |
[QuantitativeValue](https://schema.org.ai/QuantitativeValue) Properties
| Property | Expected Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| additionalProperty | PropertyValue | A property-value pair representing an additional characteristic of the entity, e.g. a product feature or another characteristic for which there is no matching property in schema.org. Note: Publish... |
| maxValue | Number | The upper value of some characteristic or property. |
| minValue | Number | The lower value of some characteristic or property. |
| unitCode | URL, Text | The unit of measurement given using the UN/CEFACT Common Code (3 characters) or a URL. Other codes than the UN/CEFACT Common Code may be used with a prefix followed by a colon. |
| unitText | Text | A string or text indicating the unit of measurement. Useful if you cannot provide a standard unit code for unitCode. |
| value | Number, StructuredValue, Boolean, Text | The value of a QuantitativeValue (including Observation) or property value node. * For [QuantitativeValue](https://s... |
| valueReference | DefinedTerm, MeasurementTypeEnumeration, Text, Enumeration, QualitativeValue, QuantitativeValue, PropertyValue, StructuredValue | A secondary value that provides additional information on the original value, e.g. a reference temperature or a type of measurement. |
[Thing](https://schema.org.ai/Thing) Properties
| Property | Expected Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| additionalType | Text, URL | An additional type for the item, typically used for adding more specific types from external vocabularies in microdata syntax. This is a relationship between something and a class that the thing is... |
| alternateName | Text | An alias for the item. |
| description | Text, TextObject | A description of the item. |
| disambiguatingDescription | Text | A sub property of description. A short description of the item used to disambiguate from other, similar items. Information from other properties (in particular, name) may be necessary for the descr... |
| identifier | URL, Text, PropertyValue | The identifier property represents any kind of identifier for any kind of Thing, such as ISBNs, GTIN codes, UUIDs etc. Schema.org provides dedicated properties for re... |
| image | ImageObject, URL | An image of the item. This can be a URL or a fully described ImageObject. |
| mainEntityOfPage | CreativeWork, URL | Indicates a page (or other CreativeWork) for which this thing is the main entity being described. See background notes for details. |
| name | Text | The name of the item. |
| potentialAction | Action | Indicates a potential Action, which describes an idealized action in which this thing would play an 'object' role. |
| sameAs | URL | URL of a reference Web page that unambiguously indicates the item's identity. E.g. the URL of the item's Wikipedia page, Wikidata entry, or official website. |
| subjectOf | Event, CreativeWork | A CreativeWork or Event about this Thing. |
| url | URL | URL of the item. |