Methodology changelog

A quarterly delta of how the Meridian Consensus methodology evolves. Schema additions, source-tier refinements, accuracy improvements, and breaking changes: published the moment they ship, not retrofitted in marketing decks.

Back to methodology

v3.42026-04-30
Repositioning release. Reports now ship as Strategic Intelligence with a numbered front-of-report Methodology & Scope chapter, an industry-keyed Macro Shock & Resilience overlay, sub-segment depth, and topic-aware segmentation labels.
- AddedMethodology & Scope chapter (Ch 1)
  Front-of-report trust artifact: research approach, primary/secondary mix, exchange rates, scope inclusions/exclusions, source-tier definitions, validation steps, known limitations.
- AddedMacro Shock & Resilience module (Ch 2)
  Industry-keyed macro overlay (pandemic / energy / AI / climate / supply-chain / regulatory / geopolitical) replaces the dated COVID-only chapter. Resilience score 0-100 per report.
- AddedSub-segment depth on segmentation
  Segments can now carry one layer of named sub-segments (e.g. Catheter Ablation → RF / Cryo) with their own forecasts. Renderer surfaces an expandable tree.
- AddedTopic-aware segmentation dimensions
  Pipeline now picks dimension labels matching the topic (Surgery Type / Technology / Procedure / End-Use for surgery; Product / Deployment / Customer Size / Vertical for SaaS; etc.) instead of generic Product / Application / Channel / End-User.
- AddedCountry × all-segments cross-tabulation
  Regional chapter now exposes a per-country breakdown across every segment dimension, aggregated from segment-level regional data.
- AddedrecentInitiatives per company profile
  Every Company Profile now ships the canonical 4 sub-sections (Overview / Products / Financials / Recent Initiatives) with typed event taxonomy.
- AddedValue-chain phase grouping
  Stages now group as Raw Material Procurement / Sales & Distribution / Downstream Buyer at the head of the Value Chain chapter.
- ImprovedCurrency + unit on every monetary value
  MarketSizing schema now carries currency and valueUnit fields; every chart and table renders the explicit reporting axis (e.g. "USD Million") instead of leaving it implicit.
- ImprovedCross-industry segmentation cardinality
  Hard 4-5 dimensions × 5-6 segments cardinality replaced with a soft lint warning. Cross-industry fit improved; canonical shape remains the recommendation.
- TrustProvenance badges + 3-source rule
  Source counts and confidence tier (Anchored / Derived / Estimated) surfaced as inline badges on every segment, region, and company. Badges flag rows backed by fewer than 3 sources.
- TrustTriangulation accuracy strip
  Top-down vs bottom-up reconciliation deviation surfaced at the head of the Competitive chapter as a buyer-visible credibility metric.
- RemovedVendor-rating prescriptive grades
  Strong-positive / Strong-negative vendor ratings retired. Vendor positioning is conveyed through tier (Leader / Major / Challenger / Niche), competitive moat, and acquisition stance, observational rather than prescriptive.
- RemovedDuplicate Executive Brief / Briefing chapters
  Collapsed to a single Executive Summary (Ch 0) with the decision-grade Market Position, Dated SPAs, and Current vs Future cards relocated into it.