Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

Demography 383
the social group, and demographic development brings about changes in
society.
90. To sum up, sociology uses the same methods as demography. The demog-
rapher notes, observes and measures phenomena. He unravels the ‘how’ of
things and calls upon the sociologist to help him find the ‘wherefore’ of them.
He discovers, for instance, that matrimonial habits vary from one region to
another. In order to do this, he has started off with numerical data supplied to
him by the census and civil registry office. Then, in the variations he notices in
this data, he takes into account those which are due to factors other than matri-
monial habits. He is then able to define and calculate the degree of what he
calls the ‘marriage situation’. Carrying on with his analysis, he discovers that
the ‘marriage situation’ varies according to social class, profession, education,
religion, etc.; that it also varies in time, depending on the economic develop-
ment, season of the year, etc. But how is he to understand that these are regarded
as standard habits by this or that social group?By using the methods of sociol-
ogy, the demographer is able to show how demographic events take their place
within a socio-cultural framework which gives them meaning.
VI. DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH AND MEANS OF OBSERVATlON
91. In every science, research is also affected by the means of observation.
Progress in those means entails progress in every branch of science. For instance,
the discovery of optical instruments in physics made research possible in hitherto
unsuspected fields. During the past few years, progress in three sectors has been
observable in demography and, more generally, in the human sciences as a
whole, the effects of which on research are being and wil continue to be felt for
a long time to come. These are:
a. the development of techniques for collection of sample survey data;
b. the development of techniques for data analysis by demographers and
statistical theorists, and
c. the invention of ever more advanced electronic computers.
Sample surveys
92. For many years, demography has drawn most of its source material from
official statistical publications, based for the most part on results of population
censuses and records in the civil registry. It was for a long time believed that
anything and everything could be obtained from such documents. W e now
know that they have their limitations. The tendency is rather to simplify them
and to rely on surveys for the accumulation of more varied information.
However, there is more to it than that: apart from the administrative pur-
poses for which they were created, censuses and civil registration returns have
always had, above all, an informative purpose. They are required to increase
our knowledge, and that was enough so long as demography confined itself to