Summary data vs individual observations

[thiemehennis]

I'd like to open this issue regarding 'the goal' of giving preference to summary data. Since we're only starting to develop these open standards for growth data, I want to share my thoughts on it. They may be correct or incorrect, but it's good to consider. These are my thoughts:

• Going from observational to summary data requires the person doing the analytics to make certain assumptions to be able to select data, using certain kinds of analytics, etc. Is average temperature per day enough or every minute?
• Observational does not require you to do that, it's just raw data, but you need to know the (physical) context in which this data is generated (e.g. the location of the sensor, the size of the container, maybe other data such as air pressure or users). Using scientific protocols, these can become standardised for a specific group of users/installations.
• Given the context, observational data may be more useful than summary data.

These, in a nutshell, are my thoughts.