Once observers have done their work – that is, once their assignment of codes to events or intervals has been committed to paper or electronic files – it is tempting to think that you can now move directly to analysis of the coded data. Almost always this is premature because it bypasses two important intervening steps. The second step involves reducing sequential data for a session into summary scores for subsequent analysis and is relatively well understood; for details see Chapters 8 and 9. The first step is equally important but often receives less attention. It is the subject of this chapter and involves representing – literally, re-presenting – the data as recorded initially into formats that facilitate subsequent data reduction and analysis.

When recording observational data, as described in the preceding chapter, observer ease and accuracy are paramount, and methods and formats for recording data appropriately accommodate these concerns. But when progressing to data preparation, reduction, and analysis, different formats may work better. In this chapter, we consider two levels of data representation. The first is a standard format – that is, a set of conventions – for sequential data that defines five basic data types and reflects the recording strategies described in the previous chapter. The second is more conceptual; it is a way of thinking about sequential data in terms of a universal code-unit grid that applies to all data types and that facilitates data analysis and data modification, as demonstrated in subsequent chapters (especially in Chapter 10).