Time and process: An operational framework for processual analysis

Claire Bidart (), Maria Eugenia Longo and Ariel Mendez ()
Additional contact information
Claire Bidart: LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Maria Eugenia Longo: LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Ariel Mendez: LEST - Laboratoire d'Economie et de Sociologie du Travail - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: Most social phenomena are processes, and like all processes they 'take time'. However, the dynamic aspects of such phenomena are not always taken seriously in the social sciences. Many scholars agree that objects in which the time dimension is present should be subjected to processual analysis. Nevertheless, it is seldom the case that specific methods are either theoretically constructed or explicitly put into practice. Against this background, the purpose of this article is to take up the challenge of theorising processes. It will seek to develop a set of conceptual tools based on a linkage between time and the changes observed in the phenomena under investigation. It is based on four key concepts: the ingredients derived from the context, the sequences, the driving forces, and the turning points. The precise definition of each of these concepts ensues from a number of theoretical debates that remain isolated from each other. In this paper, such approaches are enriched through the association of these four concepts within an integrated analytical framework that gives meaning to processes by shedding light on the combination of elements and dynamics on which they are based.

Keywords: qualitative; bifurcation; sequence; method; theory; process; théorie; processus; méthode; analyses qualitatives; Panel de Caen (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00724031
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published in European Sociological Review, 2012, 29 (4), pp.743-751 ⟨10.1093/esr/jcs053⟩

Downloads: (external link)
https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00724031/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00724031

DOI: 10.1093/esr/jcs053

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().