Characterizing the Sequential Structure of Interactive Behaviors Through Statistical and Grammatical Techniques

Statistical and grammatical techniques are reviewed as an integrated approach to exploratory sequential data analysis (ESDA) for categorical data. The first step is the identification and validation of the categories to be analyzed. The main statistical techniques discussed are log-linear modeling and lag sequential analysis. These methods allow for the statistical evaluation of a wide range of general and specific hypotheses about sequential structure. Grammatical techniques based on Gary M. Olson is a psychologist interested in the contributions of cognitive, social, and organizational research to the design and evaluation of computer systems; he is Professor of Psychology and Director of the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work at the University of Michigan. James D. Herbsleb is a psychologist and computer scientist interested in the effects of adopting software-engineering process and technology innovations; he is a Member of the Technical Staff in the Empirical Methods Project of the Software Engineering Institute. Henry H. Rueter is a mathematical psychologist with an interest in syntactic pattern recognition; he is a Research Scientist with the CREW group at the University of Michigan. 428 OLSON, HERBSLEB, RUETER