Using optimal matching analysis in sociology: Cost setting and sociology of time

This paper is a reflection on the conditions required to use Optimal Matching Analysis (OMA) in sociology. The success of OMA in biology is not related to any supposed similarity of the method with biological processes but comes from setting costs in OMA in accordance with biological theory. As sequences in sociology are made of events and time, the determination of costs should be guided by sociological theories of time. After a discussion of the sociological meaning and consequences of costs, this paper comes back on the Dynamic Hamming Distance and the body of social theories of time (Durkheim, Elias, Bourdieu) from which it is derived as an example of how sociological theory can inform cost setting in using OMA in sociology

Setting Cost in Optimal Matching to Uncover Contemporaneous Socio-Temporal Patterns

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Setting cost in Optimal Matching to uncover contemporaneous socio-temporal patterns

This article addresses the question of the effects of cost setting on the kind of temporal patterns optimal matching (OM) can uncover when applied to social science data. It is argued that the balance between indel (insertion and deletion) and substitution costs determines what kind of socio-temporal pattern can be brought to light. Insertion and deletion operations favor identically coded states irrespective of their locations whereas substitutions focus on contemporaneous similarities. The lower the ratio of substitution to indel costs, the closer OM is to the Hamming distance where only substitutions are used. The higher this ratio, the closer OM is to the Levenshtein II distance, which amounts to finding the longest common subsequence. When the timing of sequences is crucial, substitutions should be favored over indels and their costs should be carefully fixed. Ideally, substitution costs should vary with time to better take into account the timing of the sequences studied. As indels warp time, hence the timing of sequences, it is suggested to use only substitution operations with time-dependent costs inversely proportional to transition frequencies whenever the timing of sequences is central. This OM variant, coined dynamic Hamming matching, is applied to the question of the scheduling of paid work where timing is critical (1985 and 1999 French time use surveys, N = 7,908) along with three classical OM variants (Hamming and Levenshtein I and II). As expected, the two Hamming dissimilarity measures fare better to identify patterns of workday schedules, as measured by entropy, than the two Levenshtein ones

Schedules as sequences: a new method to analyze the use of time based on collective rhythm with an application to the work arrangements of French dual-earner couples

This paper sets out a new method to analyze schedules with an application to the analysis of synchronization within dual-earner couples. The flaws of the traditional time-budget approach are brought to light: time is not a constant flux and disregarding the social dimension of time and the significance of scheduling dismantles a great part of the phenomenon analyzed. The method proposed is inspired by Optimal Matching techniques but also informed by sociological theory: it relies on information about the collective rhythm. This method is further applied to French dual-earner couples in 1985 and 1998 (enquêtes Emploi du Temps, Insee, France, N=2574): twelve work arrangements are uncovered. Six of them refer to double full time schedules days, and two to feminine partially worked days. A significant proportion (20%) of the spouses who both worked a full time schedule experiences a high degree of desynchronization (greater than 50%). A few of them are even found to be completely desynchronized. Women who worked partially the day observed are also concerned by off-scheduling: though the probability of being desynchronized is reduced, a significant number of women work while their spouses are not working. Desynchronization dramatically increased between 1985 and 1998: more spouses work more desynchronized days but desynchronization also expands in most of the days. The increase observed is particularly prominent for couples where women work partial schedules.method, sequence, optimal matching analysis, collective rhythm, dual-earner couples, synchronization

Time Use Surveys: a Review of their Aims, Methods, and Results

Time use surveys are distinguished by their use of a specific type of questionnaire, the daily activity diary, first developed in the Soviet Union in the 1920s, standardized in the framework of a multinational survey headed by Alexander Szalai in 1965–66, then generalized for use in a great number of countries. The diary allows for quantifying the duration of relatively noninstitutionalized activities such as household work and leisure activities. The main research results obtained with time use studies are presented as they relate to three main themes: debates on the leisure civilization, changes in work rhythms, and gender roles and the synchronizing of social time within the family

Two-Stage Optimal Matching Analysis of Workdays and Workweeks

We apply Optimal Matching (OM) at two stages for the analysis of workdays and workweeks using data from the UK 2000 Time Use Survey. We only employ substitutions but no insertion or deletion when calculating the distance matrix between sequences. The costs are defined according to the transitional frequencies of events at a given time. Our study demonstrates how OM can be adapted to the number of periodicities and theoretical concerns of the topic by adjusting its costs and parameters. There are 7 main types of workweeks in the UK and standard workweeks account for only 1 in 4 workweeks

The Social consequences of sunday work in the USA

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A Two-Stage Optimal Matching Analysis of Workdays and Workweeks

International audienceWe study the scheduling of work by using optimal matching analysis. We show that optimal matching can be adapted to the number of periodicities and theoretical concerns of the topic by adjusting its costs and parameters. Optimal matching is applied at two stages to define workdays and workweeks at the first and second stage respectively. There were five types of workdays and seven types of workweeks in the UK between 2000 and 2001. Standard workdays represented just over a half of workdays and standard workweeks constituted one in four workweeks. There were three types of part-time workweeks

Investigating scheduling of work: A two-stage optimal matching analysis of workdays and workweeks

We study the scheduling of work by using optimal matching analysis. We show that optimal matching can be adapted to the number of periodicities and theoretical concerns of the topic by adjusting its costs and parameters. Optimal matching is applied at two stages to define workdays and workweeks at the first and second stage respectively. There were five types of workdays and seven types of workweeks in the UK between 2000 and 2001. Standard workdays represented just over a half of workdays and standard workweeks constituted one in four workweeks. There were three types of part-time workweeks

How the Working Week is Organized for Working Individuals and Couples: the Influence of Economic and Social Determinants

For the Time-Use survey conducted by Insee in 1999 data was gathered from seven-day diaries in which working people noted their working hours for one week. Different types of working weeks were categorized by applying a two-stage optimal matching method, firstly for working days, then for simplified weeks using day types. The days differ greatly according to socio-professional category, the type of job, sector, but also gender. Pronounced regularities also emerge at a weekly level. Generally speaking, the better ones position in the economic system, the more independent time-management one has and the more working weeks are standard or long. Meanwhile, less skilled workers have working weeks which are shorter on average, but have staggered and fragmented schedules and a very low degree of control over their working time. For couples less independent time-management leads to their work schedules becoming more desynchronized and this creates new inequalities between households.Time Use, Workweek, Optimal Matching, Couple, Desynchronization