Preprint / Version 1

Life Lines as Biographical Research Tools: An Experience of Application

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Sara Nunes CoLABOR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2064-0609

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1590/SciELOPreprints.12633

Keywords:

Qualitative methodologies, Research techniques, Biographical method, Life lines, Life chronogram, Social sciences

Abstract

This working paper aims to synthesize the set of techniques for systematizing and analyzing diachronic and/or longitudinal qualitative data, deepening the technique of constructing Life Lines, using the presentation and description of an experience of application. Based on biographical interviews conducted as part of a master's thesis in Sociology, this working paper sought to demonstrate how Life Lines make it possible to systematize and visualize complex biographical sequences, crossing dimensions such as residential, occupational and marital paths. The text contextualizes the Biographical Method and its strands (demographic, historical and anthropological), highlighting the potential of Life Lines to integrate mixed methodological approaches. It discusses the stages involved in constructing the lines, the challenges of making them operational and the analytical and comparative gains that this type of instrument offers. Despite the inferential limitations, the empirical results show the usefulness of this instrument in contemporary sociological research, contributing to the visualization of biographical patterns and the understanding of the interactions between individual agency and social structure.

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Author Biography

Sara Nunes, CoLABOR

Sara Nunes has a bachelor's and master's degree in Sociology from Iscte-IUL. Throughout her academic career, she has explored quantitative and qualitative research methods, having developed a master's dissertation on the processes of formation and transformation of female identities, a research based on the biographical method and the analysis of life lines.

She began her research journey in 2019 at CIES-Iscte, where she participated in several research projects related to the development of diagnostic studies, strategic documents and project/program evaluation models, in the areas of Sociology of Education, Public Policies and Social Intervention.

Since 2023, she is a research assistant at CoLABOR, as part of the DataLabor (Statistical and Legal Data Platform) team, in which she participates in the INCA (European Union-funded) and ManaGender (FCT-funded) projects, as well as in the statistical platform LxSTAT.

Her research interests include gender inequalities, poverty and social exclusion, mixed methodologies and multi-methods.