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RESEARCH.md
Document Type: Research Framework & Knowledge Policy Project: CeloHT Status: Active Last Updated: August 2026 Authors: Johnny Dubic & CeloHT Community
CeloHT supports research as a means of understanding financial inclusion, blockchain technology, Web3 adoption, community development, environmental impact, digital education, and emerging opportunities.
Research enables CeloHT to make better-informed decisions, evaluate programs, identify risks, and contribute knowledge to the broader community.
This document establishes a framework for conducting, documenting, evaluating, and communicating research associated with CeloHT.
CeloHT research may seek to:
- Understand community needs.
- Evaluate program effectiveness.
- Study barriers to financial inclusion.
- Examine blockchain adoption.
- Improve Web3 education.
- Evaluate digital financial access.
- Study community economic opportunities.
- Measure environmental initiatives.
- Improve technology and user experience.
- Identify operational and security risks.
- Generate useful open knowledge.
CeloHT research follows the following principles:
Conclusions should be based on available evidence rather than unsupported assumptions.
Methods, assumptions, limitations, and sources should be disclosed where appropriate.
Research should be documented sufficiently for others to understand how conclusions were reached.
Researchers should distinguish evidence from organizational opinions or strategic preferences.
Research must respect participant privacy and applicable data-protection requirements.
Research findings should not be exaggerated beyond what the evidence supports.
CeloHT may conduct research in several areas.
- Access to financial services
- Digital payments
- Remittances
- Financial literacy
- Barriers to adoption
- Community financial behavior
- Blockchain usability
- Wallet adoption
- Smart contracts
- Decentralized applications
- Web3 education
- Governance
- Celo network usage
- CELO and cUSD use cases
- Wallet accessibility
- Community adoption
- Developer ecosystem
- Reforestation
- Tree survival
- Community environmental participation
- Sustainable agriculture
- Ecosystem restoration
- Education
- Entrepreneurship
- Digital literacy
- Local economic opportunities
- Community participation
A research project should begin with a clearly defined question.
A strong research question should be:
- Specific
- Relevant
- Measurable where appropriate
- Feasible
- Ethically appropriate
Example:
What barriers prevent community members from adopting digital financial tools?
This is preferable to a vague question such as:
Is blockchain good for communities?
CeloHT research may use:
Uses numerical data to measure patterns, outcomes, or relationships.
Examples:
- Surveys
- Transaction data
- Program metrics
- Statistical analysis
Explores experiences, perceptions, motivations, and context.
Examples:
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Community discussions
- Observational research
Combines quantitative and qualitative approaches.
The methodology should match the research question.
CeloHT may analyze existing research and publicly available information.
Sources may include:
- Academic papers
- Government publications
- Official blockchain documentation
- International organizations
- Public datasets
- Industry reports
- Technical standards
Researchers should prioritize authoritative and primary sources when available.
Primary research may involve:
- Surveys
- Interviews
- Focus groups
- Field observations
- Program evaluations
- Community consultations
Participants should receive appropriate information about the purpose of the research.
Research data should be collected using a defined methodology.
Documentation should identify, where applicable:
- Data source
- Collection period
- Population
- Sample
- Collection method
- Variables
- Limitations
Data should not be collected simply because it is technically possible to collect it.
CeloHT should collect only the information necessary for the stated research purpose.
Researchers should avoid unnecessary collection of:
- Personal identifiers
- Financial information
- Location information
- Contact information
- Sensitive personal information
When personal data is required, appropriate safeguards should be applied.
Participants may include:
- Community members
- Learners
- Agents
- Volunteers
- Entrepreneurs
- Developers
- Partners
- Program participants
Participation should be voluntary where applicable.
Where research involves identifiable individuals, appropriate consent procedures should be considered.
Participants should understand, where relevant:
- Purpose of the research
- What information is being collected
- How it will be used
- Whether participation is voluntary
- How information will be protected
- Whether results may be published
The appropriate consent standard depends on the nature of the research and applicable requirements.
Research outputs should avoid unnecessarily exposing participant identities.
Researchers should consider:
- Anonymization
- Pseudonymization
- Access controls
- Data retention
- Secure storage
- Limited access
Public reports should generally present aggregated results when individual identification is unnecessary.
CeloHT research should avoid:
- Manipulating participants
- Fabricating responses
- Falsifying data
- Misrepresenting findings
- Unnecessary collection of personal data
- Concealing material conflicts of interest
- Presenting speculation as fact
Research involving vulnerable populations requires additional care.
Where surveys or studies use samples, researchers should document:
- Target population
- Sample size
- Sampling method
- Selection criteria
- Geographic scope
- Collection period
Researchers should avoid presenting a small or biased sample as representative of an entire population.
Where quantitative analysis is used, researchers should document appropriate methods.
Possible measures include:
- Mean
- Median
- Percentage
- Distribution
- Variance
- Correlation
- Confidence intervals
- Statistical tests
The selected method should correspond to the research question and data characteristics.
Correlation should not automatically be interpreted as causation.
For example:
Two variables increasing together does not by itself prove that one caused the other.
CeloHT research should use cautious language when causal evidence is limited.
Blockchain research may use publicly available on-chain data.
Potential sources include:
- Blockchain explorers
- Public RPC endpoints
- Indexing services
- Smart-contract events
- Transaction records
Researchers should document:
- Network
- Contract addresses
- Block range
- Query methodology
- Timestamp
- Data source
When reporting blockchain activity, CeloHT should distinguish between:
- Reported activity
- Observed on-chain activity
- Verified transactions
- Estimated activity
Where possible, important blockchain claims should be independently verifiable.
Research may evaluate CeloHT programs using:
Resources invested.
Actions performed.
Direct results produced.
Changes experienced by participants.
Longer-term effects.
This structure helps avoid confusing activity volume with meaningful impact.
Environmental research may evaluate:
- Tree planting
- Survival
- Ecosystem restoration
- Community participation
- Agricultural outcomes
- Environmental education
Environmental claims should identify measurement methods and uncertainty.
Education research may measure:
- Enrollment
- Completion
- Knowledge gains
- Assessment performance
- Retention
- Learner satisfaction
- Practical application
A higher quiz score does not automatically prove long-term behavioral change.
Potential indicators include:
- Access to financial tools
- Transaction frequency
- Remittance activity
- Digital wallet adoption
- Financial literacy
- User confidence
- Barriers to access
Researchers should avoid assuming that blockchain adoption automatically equals financial inclusion.
UX research may investigate:
- Onboarding
- Wallet connection
- Transaction flows
- User comprehension
- Accessibility
- Errors
- Drop-off points
- Support requirements
Methods may include:
- Usability testing
- Interviews
- Surveys
- Product analytics
- Session observation
Security research may include:
- Threat modeling
- Vulnerability analysis
- Smart-contract review
- Authentication research
- Authorization analysis
- Incident analysis
- Phishing awareness
Security-sensitive findings should be handled according to CeloHT's security disclosure procedures.
Each significant research project should maintain:
- Research question
- Objectives
- Methodology
- Data sources
- Analysis
- Results
- Limitations
- Conclusions
- References
Additional documentation may be required depending on the research type.
A research repository may be organized as:
research/
├── financial-inclusion/
├── blockchain/
├── web3/
├── education/
├── environment/
├── community/
├── security/
├── datasets/
└── archived/
The exact structure may evolve.
Where legally and ethically appropriate, CeloHT may publish research datasets.
Datasets should be reviewed for:
- Personal information
- Sensitive information
- Security risks
- Licensing restrictions
- Data quality
- Re-identification risks
Raw participant-level data should not be published merely for the sake of openness.
Researchers should evaluate:
- Completeness
- Accuracy
- Consistency
- Duplicate records
- Missing values
- Collection bias
- Measurement errors
- Sampling bias
Important limitations should be documented.
Every major research publication should identify relevant limitations.
Examples include:
- Small sample size
- Limited geographic coverage
- Short observation period
- Self-reported information
- Missing data
- Selection bias
- Measurement uncertainty
- Incomplete blockchain records
Acknowledging limitations increases research credibility.
Research may undergo:
Checks whether the research design is appropriate.
Checks data quality and analysis.
Used for technical or blockchain research.
Checks clarity and presentation.
Used when participant or personal data is involved.
The appropriate review level depends on research risk.
Researchers should disclose relevant conflicts of interest.
A conflict does not automatically invalidate research.
Instead, it should be disclosed and considered when interpreting findings.
CeloHT leadership, contributors, sponsors, or partners should not manipulate research findings to produce predetermined conclusions.
Research results may be positive, negative, mixed, or inconclusive.
The evidence should determine the conclusion.
Research findings may be published through:
- GitHub
- CeloHT Wiki
- Research reports
- Whitepapers
- Academic publications
- Community presentations
- Educational materials
Publication format should match the intended audience.
Negative or inconclusive findings should not automatically be suppressed.
Examples include:
- A program failing to meet its target.
- Low adoption.
- Poor retention.
- Unexpected technical limitations.
- Environmental survival below expectations.
Documenting failures can help CeloHT improve future programs.
Where practical, CeloHT should provide:
- Methodology
- Data definitions
- Analysis procedures
- Code
- Queries
- Dataset references
- Version information
Sensitive or restricted information may require controlled access.
Research documents should identify:
- Version
- Publication date
- Revision date
- Authors
- Contributors
- Changes
Major revisions should not erase important historical conclusions without explanation.
External information should be cited appropriately.
Citations should enable readers to identify the source used to support a material claim.
Primary sources should generally be preferred over secondary summaries when available.
CeloHT may collaborate with:
- Universities
- Researchers
- NGOs
- Technology organizations
- Environmental organizations
- Community organizations
- Independent experts
Partnership agreements should define:
- Research scope
- Responsibilities
- Data ownership
- Publication rights
- Attribution
- Confidentiality
- Ethical requirements
Research may be supported through:
- Grants
- Sponsorships
- Partnerships
- Donations
- Program funding
- Other permitted sources
Funding sources should be disclosed where appropriate.
Funding should not determine research conclusions.
Research repositories must not contain:
- Private keys
- Passwords
- API secrets
- Authentication tokens
- Unnecessary personal information
Security-sensitive research should be stored and disclosed according to appropriate security procedures.
Future research priorities may include:
- Financial inclusion
- Digital finance adoption
- Community education
- Agent network effectiveness
- Web3 usability
- Environmental impact
- Reforestation survival
- Entrepreneurship
- Digital security
- Governance participation
Research priorities may change as CeloHT's needs evolve.
CeloHT should evaluate whether research contributes to:
- Better decisions
- Better programs
- Better technology
- Better education
- Better community outcomes
- Better environmental practices
Research should ultimately support practical learning and improvement.
CeloHT is committed to responsible research.
The project should not intentionally:
- Fabricate data
- Falsify results
- Hide material limitations
- Misrepresent methodology
- Manipulate statistical results
- Invent citations
- Present unsupported claims as established findings
Corrections should be made when material errors are discovered.
This document should be read together with:
PUBLICATIONS.mdPERFORMANCE.mdTRANSPARENCY.mdDATA_PRIVACY.mdSECURITY.mdPROGRAMS.mdREFORESTATION.mdRISK_MANAGEMENT.md
CeloHT views research as a foundation for responsible development.
The purpose of research is not to prove that every CeloHT initiative succeeds. Its purpose is to discover what works, identify what does not, understand why, and use evidence to make better decisions.
CeloHT therefore supports research that is transparent, rigorous, ethical, reproducible where practical, and useful to the communities it serves.
Document Status: Active Maintained By: CeloHT Community Primary Authors: Johnny Dubic & CeloHT Community
© 2026 CeloHT - Open Source. Global Impact. Licensed under Apache.