Work History Analysis, Women and Large Scale Data Sets

Abstract

This paper describes the methods and concepts which were developed during an analysis of women's work histories contained in a recent large-scale source, the Women and Employment Survey. Large scale longitudinal data are relatively rare in social science although more sources are becoming available but the techniques and methods of approaching such data are lagging behind. The concepts described here were developed in the context of a specific type of work history but they are thought to have general relevance to these data, as are the methods of approach which are also described. The main approach was to classify individuals' longitudinal employment experiences aided by inspection and computer graphical displays. This single variable can be used subsequently in multivariate analyses of the large scale data set. This method provides a micro foundation to macro-sociology or economics.