Sequence Analysis

This chapter introduces Sequence Analysis (SA) as a set of tools for examining sequential categorical data, focusing on temporal processes. These processes are crucial in sociology and other social sciences, as they study how individuals, families, or organizations change over time or engage in different activities in one or more domains. SA allows for effectively describing and visualizing these temporal processes, helping identify regularities or anomalies in the number, duration, or timing of events and states. These patterns can be linked to units' characteristics (e.g., gender) or contextual factors (e.g., policy changes). The chapter outlines the main steps in conducting SA: coding and visualizing sequences, calculating dissimilarities, clustering similar sequences, and using cluster membership in regression models. This "core program" is demonstrated using data from the German pairfam survey. The chapter also provides references to recent advances and concludes with a discussion on challenges and open questions in the field.