Scientific article
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English

Measuring the nature of individual sequences

ContributorsRitschard, Gilbertorcid
Published inSociological methods & research, vol. 52, no. 4, p. 2016-2049
Publication date2023
First online date2021-09-27
Abstract

This study reviews and compares indicators that can serve to characterize numerically the nature of state sequences. It also introduces several new indicators. Alongside basic measures such as the length, the number of visited distinct states, and the number of state changes, we shall consider composite measures such as turbulence and the complexity index, and measures that take account of the nature (e.g., positive vs. negative or ranking) of the states. The discussion points out the strange behavior of some of the measures—Elzinga's turbulence and the precarity index of Ritschard, Bussi, and O'Reilly in particular—and propositions are made to avoid these flaws. The usage of the indicators is illustrated with two applications using data from the Swiss Household Panel. The first application tests the U-shape hypothesis about the evolution of life satisfaction along the life course, and the second one examines the scarring effect of earlier employment sequences.

Citation (ISO format)
RITSCHARD, Gilbert. Measuring the nature of individual sequences. In: Sociological methods & research, 2023, vol. 52, n° 4, p. 2016–2049. doi: 10.1177/00491241211036156
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Journal ISSN0049-1241
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Technical informations

Creation28/09/2021 06:43:00
First validation28/09/2021 06:43:00
Update time04/04/2025 12:59:46
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