Sociology Through Numbers

Course Plan

The course plan is structured around several key themes:

1. The Use of Numbers in Sociology:

   • Examines the types of numbers used, the reasons for their use, and the processes of establishing and measuring sociological phenomena.

   • Discusses different data types, sources, and forms.

   • Addresses the distinction between sociological research and opinion polls, as well as the potential political pitfalls of statistics.

2. Nomenclatures and Taxonomies:

   • Explores the contributions and limitations of essential classifications like CSP/PCS (Professions and Socioprofessional Categories).

   • Analyzes PCS, capital, and social classes, alongside social reproduction and mobility.

3. Methodological Tools in Explanatory Sociology:

   • Focuses on Durkheim's foundational analysis of suicide as a social fact.

   • Examines contemporary data on suicide and the challenges in comparing such figures across different contexts.

4. The Role of Numbers in Comprehensive Sociology:

   • Discusses Max Weber's study on "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism."

   • Addresses the interpretation of correlations, differentiating between explanatory and explained variables.

5. Multiple Interpretations of a Single Statistic:

   • Presents a case study involving Bourdieu and Boudon.

   • Explores inequalities in opportunity, contrasting habitus with limited rationality, and examines democratization versus massification.

6. Counting Publics:

   • Addresses the sociopolitical implications and technical limitations of defining, delimiting, and characterizing a study population.

   • Covers sampling techniques.

7. Defining a Majority:

   • Discusses absolute versus relative majorities and issues of abstention and non-response in surveys and elections.

Pierre Bourdieu: "Public Opinion Does Not Exist"

Bourdieu's critique of opinion polls, presented in 1972, challenges three implicit postulates:

1. Everyone Can Have an Opinion:

   • Bourdieu contests the assumption that everyone is equally capable of forming a meaningful opinion.

2. All Opinions Are Equal:

   • He argues against the idea that all opinions hold the same real weight or significance, suggesting that cumulating opinions without considering their actual force leads to meaningless artifacts.

3. Consensus on Problems:

   • Bourdieu questions the assumption that asking the same question to everyone implies a consensus on the issues that merit being asked, suggesting a potential distortion in the framing of questions.

Observatoire des Inégalités: Addressing Gaps in Public Measurement and Awareness of Inequality

The Observatoire des Inégalités was established because public services were not adequately measuring and disseminating information about inequalities. While some progress has been made, significant gaps remain, with much of the available information being inaccessible to the general public.

The core aims include:

• Advocating for improved measurement and reporting practices by institutions.

• Highlighting the injustice of current levels of inequality, which are seen as conflicting with the values of the Republic and promoting civic skepticism and social cynicism.

• Recognizing that the mechanisms producing inequalities are constantly evolving and that the interplay between economic, cultural, and symbolic inequalities requires attention.

• Aiding in revealing these inequalities, as those who benefit from them have no incentive to make them visible.

Data on Poverty and Inequality in France

Key data points and findings include:

• Poverty Levels: In France, 1% of individuals live with a monthly income of less than $444$ euros, and 2% with less than $607$ euros (2018 data). This affects approximately 1.2 million people.

• Inadequacy of Minimum Income: The figures suggest that France fails to provide a dignified minimum income, even when including social benefits.

• Household Income Considerations: These figures represent household income, which must be adjusted for family size (e.g., a couple in the poorest 1% would have a total income of only $670$ euros).

• Exclusions from Statistics: These statistics do not account for people not included in standard surveys, such as students, elderly in care homes, and the homeless.

• Severe Deprivation: It is estimated that around two million people in France live in severe destitution.

• Limitations of Poverty Thresholds: The standard poverty line of $1,128$ euros per month (60% of the median income) does not adequately describe the reality of extreme poverty.

• Educational Inequality: French schools favor students from privileged backgrounds, who score significantly higher (550) on OECD reading comprehension tests compared to the OECD average (534). Disadvantaged students score 443, similar to the international average.

• Social Influence on Education: France is among the countries where social inequality most strongly affects educational outcomes.

Evolution of Socioprofessional Categories (PCS) in France

The distribution of employment across socioprofessional categories in France has changed significantly between 1982 and 2020:

• Decline in Manual Labor: The proportion of workers decreased by 11.1 percentage points, and farmers declined by 5.7 points.

• Fluctuations in Employee Roles: The proportion of employees decreased after 2010, returning to 1982 levels.

• Increase in Highly Qualified Jobs: The proportion of managers increased by 12.6 points, and intermediate professions increased by 6.5 points.

• Impact of COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated the decline in employment among employees and workers, further increasing the average skill level of employed individuals.

Socio-Professional Classification

It is a set of statistical categories. Each one groups professions corresponding to the same social environment. Based on several divisions, such as the distinction between self-employed and employed workers, the nature (public or private) of the employer establishment and the level of qualification, the sector of activity and the size of the company. The PCS code is based on central information, the wording of the profession declared in statistical surveys, and additional coding variables such as employment status, the nature of the employer, the level of qualification or the size of the company.

Socio-Professional Classification of 2020

It proposes an update and reorganization of the detailed level of professions from the 2003 nomenclature. The groups (level 1) and socio-professional categories (level 2) from the PCS 2003 remain unchanged, to guarantee the possibility of comparing these categories over time.

The main categories are:

1. Farmers

2. Craftsmen, traders and business leaders

3. Managers and higher intellectual professions

4. Intermediate professions

5. Employees

6. Workers

Average Monthly Standard of Living and Education by Social Category

The Average standard of living is calculated for the equivalent of one person alone, after taxes and social benefits.

Max Weber: Protestant Ethic and Capitalism

Weber explored the relationship between religious affiliation and economic behavior, noting that Protestants, particularly in countries with mixed religious affiliations, were more likely to be business leaders and possess capital.

Further points from Weber which are examined:

• Religious Affiliation Statistics

• Confession and Social Stratification

• The choice of education according to religious belief

Weber's study highlights the importance of being vigilant about the meaning of correlations and to value the heuristic scope of the complementarity between quantitative and qualitative data.

Emile Durkheim: Suicide as a Social Fact

Durkheim defines suicide to be:
"Every death case that results directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act, accomplished by the victim, that leads to that result."

Durkheim also claims suicide can also be looked at as:
"The rate of suicides constitutes an order of facts one and determined; It is that demonstrates, at the same time, its permanence and its variability."

Durkheim identifies the different types of suicide:

• The egoistic suicide

• The altruistic suicide

• The anomic suicide

Social Mobility

Social mobility is when a person goes to a different Socio-Professional Category compared to their parent(s).

The statistics of social mobility are collected for two groups separated by sex between 1977 and 2015:

• Male Compared to Father

• Female Compared to Mother

Bourdieu and Boudon: A Case Study of Differing Interpretations

This section contrasts the approaches of Pierre Bourdieu and Raymond Boudon, who, despite using the same dataset (a 1963 INED survey), arrived at opposing conclusions.

• Choice of Variables: Focus varied between parental education levels (Bourdieu) and prior academic success of children (Boudon).

• Theoretical Framework: Contrasting holism (Bourdieu) with atomism (Boudon).

Other ideas which were explored were massification, democratization and what exactly one would count.