Surveys on family

Family, as guarantor of moral values and social control, has long been seen as a pillar of society. Marginal behaviours (such as children born out of wedlock or single mothers) and/or any changes to what was perceived as the norm were often seen as threats. Policy makers and public authorities thus started to order and organize inquiries through surveys to apprehend and understand these behaviours. The aim was to be able to set up adequate policies to fight against what was perceived as possible attacks on family as an institution. These surveys are in themselves rich sources for studying the representations of the family, the evolution of the concept of ‘the family’ and about what family forms that were recognized (by making different forms visible or not). They also illustrate the views carried by the policy makers and/or the researchers.

Over the decades, questions surrounding the family have thus evolved, and what was surprising at one time is no longer an issue today. Thus, the subjects, the objects, the interrogations are transformed according to the political and social contexts. Similarly, the methodologies used in surveys to capture behaviours or trajectories have multiplied and diversified.

Therefore, the purpose of this conference is the inquiry (survey) on the family in one form or another. Submissions may include survey methodology (innovative aspects, new statistical or thematic methodologies requiring a specific mechanism), the context that has generated the need for this data collection, and the results of these surveys. Here are some topics considered (not being exclusive): How do themes of investigations emerge and when? How do the researchers frame them and what is the relationship with the political powers? What are the links to law changes (ante-post) and societal contexts? What types of surveys and which protocols are considered to circumscribe the various aspects of the studied social question? How to survey populations that are difficult to reach (LGBT, homeless)? Etc.

A return to the earliest family surveys, or of surveys for weakened or marginalized members of the family (for example, children born out of wedlock or single mothers), is welcome, as are analyses comparing different surveys at the national or international level.