B4 · Coding: adjudication and freeze

Resolve placements by returning to evidence

B4 turns the independent readings into a reasoned set of placements. Its central question is not which reader wins, but what the source material warrants under the existing scheme.

Where this stage starts

B3 has returned two readings for each local theme. B4 compares these with each other and with the author’s earlier grouping. It also has the scheme, the underlying concepts and the reasons readers gave. Agreement between two readers can still differ from the author’s original interpretation.

What the aggregator does

The aggregator first distinguishes failed delivery from a real difference in interpretation. Then it examines disputed placements without using reader identity as a shortcut. It reads the evidence and asks whether the problem lies in ambiguous category rules, a theme that bundles several acts, a reader’s error, the author’s error, or material that truly belongs in more than one category.

An adjudication is a written decision with a reason. It can keep a reader’s answer, choose a category neither reader selected, retain several justified placements, or leave uncertainty explicit. The original answers remain in the record. Where local community coders themselves disagree about the case, both readings and the affected claims must be identified.

The aggregator does not rewrite the frozen scheme here. Keeping the rules fixed separates two questions: where this item belongs under the present rules, and whether the rules need changing. The second belongs to C1, which can inspect the whole pattern of problems.

Finally, fresh readers check samples of settled placements: a random sample and a sample of adjudicated items. Those results are reported separately. Agreement after the aggregator has settled disputes is not the original independent agreement rate and should not be presented as such.

What the next stage receives

C1 receives a complete placement record, the reasons behind disputed decisions, and evidence about which category boundaries failed. It can revise the scheme with a clear account of what prompted each change.