Aikapiste

Aikapiste is a concept used in research, monitoring, and data processing to denote a specific point in time when data are collected or events occur. It serves as a temporal marker that enables alignment and comparison of observations across subjects or time periods. An aikapiste may be defined by a study protocol or by a data collection system, and it can represent a scheduled visit, a measurement moment, or a sampling occasion in a sensor stream.

In clinical trials and longitudinal studies, aikapiste corresponds to visit times or assessment occasions, such as baseline, week 4, or month 12. In data science and information systems, it may label the moment a data record is created or an event happens, often alongside a precise timestamp. The concepts of aikapiste and timestamp are related but distinct: an aikapiste is the occasion, whereas a timestamp records the exact clock time.

Related terms include aikaleima (timestamp) and aikaväli (time interval). In datasets, the aikapiste can be stored as a numeric code (e.g., 0 for baseline, 1 for week 4) or as a textual label (baseline, week 4). The use of aikapiste supports longitudinal analysis, time-series alignment, and systematic reporting of observations over multiple time points.