Du groupe à l'individu. Synthèse multiniveau

Abstract

This textbook presents a historical panorama of the evolution of demographic thought from its 17th century origins up to the present day, and uses it to demonstrate how the multileval approach can resolve some of the contradictions that have become apparent and achieve a synthesis of the different approaches employed.

Part one guides the reader from period analysis to multilevel analysis, examining longitudinal approach and event history analysis on the way.

Part two is a detailed account of multilevel analysis, its methods, and the relevant mathematical models notably as regards the type of variables being used. Numerous examples, examined accross successive sections, make the book clear and easy to follow.

The theoritical and epistemological treatment of these problems, during which the foundations of sociology and demography are revisited, plus the logical development that leads to the most recent approaches, are handled sufficiently rigorously to satisfy social science specialists while reamining accessible for readers new to the field. The whole forms a comprehensive account of progress in sociological and demographic savoir-faire, as well as being both a textbook and an assessment of multilevel analysis which tackles one of the major problems of empirical sociology: that of integrating analysis at the individual and groups levels.