Social sequence analysis includes a diverse and rapidly growing body of methods that social scientists have developed to help study complex ordered social processes, including chains of transitions, trajectories and other ordered phenomena. Social sequence analysis is not limited by content or time scale and can be used in many different fields, including sociology, communication, information science and psychology. Social Sequence Analysis aims to bring together both foundational and recent theoretical and methodological work on social sequences from the last thirty years. A unique reference book for a new generation of social scientists, this book will aid demographers who study life-course trajectories and family histories, sociologists who study career paths or work/family schedules, communication scholars and micro-sociologists who study conversation, interaction structures and small-group dynamics, as well as social epidemiologists.

This open access book provides innovative methods and original applications of sequence analysis (SA) and related methods for analysing longitudinal data describing life trajectories such as professional careers, family paths, the succession of health statuses, or the time use. The applications as well as the methodological contributions proposed in this book pay special attention to the combined use of SA and other methods for longitudinal data such as event history analysis, Markov modelling, and sequence network. The methodological contributions in this book include among others original propositions for measuring the precarity of work trajectories, Markov-based methods for clustering sequences, fuzzy and monothetic clustering of sequences, network-based SA, joint use of SA and hidden Markov models, and of SA and survival models. The applications cover the comparison of gendered occupational trajectories in Germany, the study of the changes in women market participation in Denmark, the study of typical day of dual-earner couples in Italy, of mobility patterns in Togo, of internet addiction in Switzerland, and of the quality of employment career after a first unemployment spell. As such this book provides a wealth of information for social scientists interested in quantitative life course analysis, and all those working in sociology, demography, economics, health, psychology, social policy, and statistics.; Provides new perspectives and methods for sequence analysis Focusses on the link between sequence analysis and other methods for longitudinal data, especially event history analysis and Markov models Stresses the complementarity of sequence analysis and other models for longitudinal data Applications of sequence analysis in a whole range of different domains This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

Sequence analysis (SA) was developed to study social processes that unfold over time as sequences of events. It has gained increasing attention as the availability of longitudinal data made it possible to address sequence-oriented questions. This volume introduces the basics of SA to guide practitioners and support instructors through the basic workflow of sequence analysis. In addition to the basics, this book outlines recent advances and innovations in SA. The presentation of statistical, substantive, and theoretical foundations is enriched by examples to help the reader understand the repercussions of specific analytical choices. The extensive ancillary material supports self-learning based on real-world survey data and research questions from the field of life course research. Data and code and a variety of additional resources to enrich the use of this book are available on an accompanying website.

This book gives a general view of sequence analysis, the statistical study of successions of states or events. It includes innovative contributions on life course studies, transitions into and out of employment, contemporaneous and historical careers, and political trajectories. The approach presented in this book is now central to the life-course perspective and the study of social processes more generally. This volume promotes the dialogue between approaches to sequence analysis that developed separately, within traditions contrasted in space and disciplines. It includes the latest developments in sequential concepts, coding, atypical datasets and time patterns, optimal matching and alternative algorithms, survey optimization, and visualization. Field studies include original sequential material related to parenting in 19th-century Belgium, higher education and work in Finland and Italy, family formation before and after German reunification, French Jews persecuted in occupied France, long-term trends in electoral participation, and regime democratization. Overall the book reassesses the classical uses of sequences and it promotes new ways of collecting, formatting, representing and processing them. The introduction provides basic sequential concepts and tools, as well as a history of the method. Chapters are presented in a way that is both accessible to the beginner and informative to the expert.

′This book provides an excellent reference guide to basic theoretical arguments, practical quantitative techniques and the methodologies that the majority of social science researchers are likely to require for postgraduate study and beyond′ - Environment and Planning ′The book provides researchers with guidance in, and examples of, both quantitative and qualitative modes of analysis, written by leading practitioners in the field. The editors give a persuasive account of the commonalities of purpose that exist across both modes, as well as demonstrating a keen awareness of the different things that each offers the practising researcher′ - Clive Seale, Brunel University ′With the appearance of this handbook, data analysts no longer have to consult dozens of disparate publications to carry out their work. The essential tools for an intelligent telling of the data story are offered here, in thirty chapters written by recognized experts. ′ - Michael Lewis-Beck, F Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor of Political Science, University of Iowa ′This is an excellent guide to current issues in the analysis of social science data. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for authoritative introductions to the state of the art. Each chapter offers a comprehensive review and an extensive bibliography and will be invaluable to researchers wanting to update themselves about modern developments′ - Professor Nigel Gilbert, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Sociology, University of Surrey This is a book that will rapidly be recognized as the bible for social researchers. It provides a first-class, reliable guide to the basic issues in data analysis, such as the construction of variables, the characterization of distributions and the notions of inference. Scholars and students can turn to it for teaching and applied needs with confidence. The book also seeks to enhance debate in the field by tackling more advanced topics such as models of change, causality, panel models and network analysis. Specialists will find much food for thought in these chapters. A distinctive feature of the book is the breadth of coverage. No other book provides a better one-stop survey of the field of data analysis. In 30 specially commissioned chapters the editors aim to encourage readers to develop an appreciation of the range of analytic options available, so they can choose a research problem and then develop a suitable approach to data analysis.

This book is an accessible, practical and comprehensive guide for researchers from multiple disciplines including biomedical, epidemiology, engineering and the social sciences. Written for accessibility, this book will appeal to students and researchers who want to understand the basics of survival and event history analysis and apply these methods without getting entangled in mathematical and theoretical technicalities. Inside, readers are offered a blueprint for their entire research project from data preparation to model selection and diagnostics. Engaging, easy to read, functional and packed with enlightening examples, ‘hands-on’ exercises, conversations with key scholars and resources for both students and instructors, this text allows researchers to quickly master advanced statistical techniques. It is written from the perspective of the ‘user’, making it suitable as both a self-learning tool and graduate-level textbook. Also included are up-to-date innovations in the field, including advancements in the assessment of model fit, unobserved heterogeneity, recurrent events and multilevel event history models. Practical instructions are also included for using the statistical programs of R, STATA and SPSS, enabling readers to replicate the examples described in the text.

Presents a method of analyzing stories for the purpose of psychological diagnosis. Includes the rational, technique and scoring method.