[en] All the published data on quark pair final states in the continuum in e⁺e^- annihilation have been analysed in a self consistent way to study the behaviour of the strong coupling constant, αsub(s) and the associated scale parameter. The best fit results for αsub(s) and lαsub(s)l at s = Q² = 1000 GeV² are given. These fits provide a good description of the R continuum from Q² = 7 GeV² all the way through two distinct quark thresholds to Q² = 2704 GeV². By including terms up to 3rd order in αsub(s), it is shown that these 3rd order terms have a considerable effect and that 4th order corrections may be needed. (author)