Sequence Analysis and Optimal Matching Methods in Sociology

@article{Abbott2000SequenceAA,
  title={Sequence Analysis and Optimal Matching Methods in Sociology},
  author={Andrew Abbott and Angela Tsay},
  journal={Sociological Methods \& Research},
  year={2000},
  volume={29},
  pages={3 - 33}
}
  • A. Abbott, A. Tsay
  • Published 1 August 2000
  • Sociology
  • Sociological Methods & Research
The authors review all known studies applying optimal matching or alignment (OM) techniques to social science sequence data. Issues of data, coding, temporality, cost setting/algorithm design, and analytic strategies are considered, and substantive findings are reviewed. The authors conclude that OM techniques have produced interesting results in a wide variety of areas, the most promising being studies of careers and of sequentially organized cultural artifacts. 
View on SAGE
683 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
24
Background Citations
128
Methods Citations
168
Results Citations
4

683 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Career-Path Analysis Using Optimal Matching and Self-Organizing Maps
TLDR
This paper proposes a new methodology, inspired from biology and adapted to career paths, combining optimal matching and self-organizing maps, and a complete study on real-life data will illustrate this proposal.
Optimal Matching Analysis in Career Research: A Review and Some Best-practice Recommendations
Sequence Analysis in Demographic Research
This paper examines the salient features of sequence analysis in demographic research. The new approach allows a holistic perspective on life course analysis, and is based on a representation of…
Beyond Transitions: Applying Optimal Matching Analysis to Life Course Research
TLDR
An analytic strategy is introduced that allows assessing the classification’s internal validity and produced a classification with better fit than straightforward CA, suggesting passages into adulthood have become more diverse since the 1970s.
Analyzing Sequence Data
TLDR
Optimal matching (OM), an invaluable yet underutilized tool in the analysis of sequence data, is discussed and an illustration of its use in the examination of careers of deans at U.S. business schools is provided.
Some Simple Algorithms for Structural Comparison
TLDR
Here, some simple algorithms are provided which elucidate several of standard multivariate analysis procedures to the structural comparison problem in an easily implemented form.
Which Dissimilarity Is to Be Used When Extracting Typologies in Sequence Analysis? A Comparative Study
TLDR
This paper proposes to use an optimal convex combination of different dissimilarities, which is automatically determined by the clustering procedure and is defined with respect to the within-class variance.
Optimal Matching Analysis and Life-Course Data: The Importance of Duration
TLDR
A modified version of the optimal matching algorithm is proposed, weighting OM’s elementary operations inversely with episode length, and it is found that where all the sequences in a data set consist of few long spells, and there is low variability in the number of spells, the modified algorithm generates an overall pattern of distances that is not very different from standard OM.
A “Global Interdependence” Approach to Multidimensional Sequence Analysis
Although sequence analysis has now become a widespread approach in the social sciences, several strategies have been developed to handle the specific issue of multidimensional sequences. These…
Comment: Capturing Linked Lives—A Promising New Method
TLDR
Cees H. Elzinga's research interests pertain to kernel algorithms for string and graph comparison and their application to topics such as social demography and life-course research.
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 36 REFERENCES
Sequence analysis: new methods for old ideas
A wide variety of work in social science concerns sequences of events or phenomena. This essay reviews concepts of sequence and methods for analyzing sequences. After a brief definitional discussion,…
Measuring Resemblance in Sequence Data: An Optimal Matching Analysis of Musicians' Careers
This article introduces a method that measures resemblance between sequences using a simple metric based on the insertions, deletions, and substitutions required to transform one sequence into…
Class careers as sequences : An optimal matching analysis of work-life histories
The authors apply optimal matching techniques to class careers from age 15 to age 35 for two moderately large samples, as a means of exploring the utility of this sequence-oriented approach for the…
A Primer on Sequence Methods
TLDR
This paper considers the technical problem of analyzing sequences of social events, including organizational life cycles, patterns of innovation development, and career tracks of individuals, and considers methods for unique event sequences, proposing the use of multidimensional scaling and illustrating it with an analysis of data on medical organizations.
Optimal Matching Analysis: A Methodological Note on Studying Career Mobility
This article explores how Optimal Matching Analysis (OMA) can be applied to study career mobility. I first apply OMA to career history data to identify typical mobility paths. Then I test whether the…
2. Sequence Comparison Viaalignment and Gibbs Sampling: A Formal Analysis of the Emergence of the Modern Sociological Article
Various substantive literatures in sociology seek small regularities in sequences: turning points in the life course, catalytic moments in organizational change, sharp turns in occupational…
Career Patterns of Executive Women in Finance: An Optimal Matching Analysis1
This article examines the objective and subjective facets of female finance‐executive careers. Optimal matching and qualitative analyses are used to show how the careers are shaped by workplace…
Sequences of Social Events: Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Order in Social Processes
(1983). Sequences of Social Events: Concepts and Methods for the Analysis of Order in Social Processes. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History: Vol. 16, No. 4,…
Optimal Matching Methods for Historical Sequences
common script is standard historical and sociological fare. In the passage from which this quote is drawn, Rude describes a script proceeding from general grievances to triggering events and on to a…
A Comment on “Measuring the Agreement between Sequences”
TLDR
The author discusses the general concept and nature of alignment algorithms for sequence data, and talks about the character and utility of the Dijkstra/Taris algorithm, a particular implementation of the alignment approach to sequence analysis.
...
1
2
3
4
...