A methodological essay on the application of social sequence analysis to the study of creative trajectories

Giovanni Formilan, Simone Ferriani, Gino Cattani

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

In this essay, we present and illustrate a few applications of social sequence analysis (SSA) to the study of creativity. Focusing on complete sequences of events rather than on localized situations, SSA enables the analytical treatment of creativity as a process that unfolds over time, offering a fuller representation of temporal dynamics of creativity than is typically possible with other methods such as event history analysis, repeated measures, or panel design methods. We suggest that SSA holds great promise for research on creative industries, as it is particularly well suited to detect similarities among diverse creative trajectories while at the same time preserving their singularities. To substantiate our suggestions we employ data from the underground electronic music to examine trajectories of stylistic variation and illustrate how to implement sequence methods to augment and/or complement other research designs. Our purpose is to stimulate interest in SSA and encourage its application to the study of creativity at the individual, organizational and industry level.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHandbook of Research Methods on Creativity
EditorsViktor Dörfler, Marc Stierand
Place of PublicationCheltenham
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
Chapter24
Pages329-350
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9781786439659
ISBN (Print)9781786439642
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Jul 2020

Publication series

NameHandbooks of Research Methods in Management series
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing

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