Event history analysis is a collection of statistical methods for the analysis of longitudinal data on the occurrence and timing of events. As used in sociology, event history analysis is very similar to linear or logistic regression analysis, except that the dependent variable is a measure of the likelihood or speed of event occurrence. As with other regression methods, event history analysis is often used to develop causal or predictive models for the occurrence of events. Event history analysis has become quite popular in sociology since the mid 1980s, with applications to such diverse events as divorces (Bennett et al. 1988), births (Kallan and Udry 1986), deaths (Moore and Hayward 1990), job changes (Carroll and Mayer 1986), organizational foundings (Halliday et al. 1987), migrations (Baydar et al. 1990), and friendship choices (Hallinan and Williams 1987).

Although event history methods have been developed and utilized by statistical practitioners in a variety of...