Comparing Qualitative Harmonic Analysis and Optimal Matching. An Exploratory Study of Occupational Trajectories

Nicolas Robette (1) , Nicolas Thibault (2)

1 PRINTEMPS - Professions, institutions, temporalités
2 INED - Institut national d'études démographiques

Modelling the life course in terms of interactions between different areas of individual activity generates complex datasets which are difficult to analyse in quantitative terms. One way of addressing biographical complexity is to focus on certain landmark transitions. Another option is to describe the entire trajectory from start to finish. The shift from analysis of transitions to the typological description of entire trajectories is a very useful change of perspective, which leads from the particular to the general. Comparing qualitative harmonic analysis, born out of French tradition, and optimal matching developed in genetics, the authors make a timely evaluation of these two rapidly developing approaches.

Mots clés: life course; sequence analysis; optimal matching

Mots clés: trajectoires biographiques; analyse de séquences; appariement optimal

Domaines: Sociologie; Démographie

Nicolas Robette, Nicolas Thibault. Comparing Qualitative Harmonic Analysis and Optimal Matching. An Exploratory Study of Occupational Trajectories. Population (English edition), 2008, 63 (4), pp.533-556. ⟨halshs-01016117⟩