Note sur les méthodes quantitatives en sociologie des valeurs

Abstract

Note on Quantitative Methods in the Sociology of Values: The sociology of values, once confined to a mere extension of ‘‘moral philosophy’’, has been profoundly renewed by the application of empirical methods of research. Developed in the United States in the 1970s by large-scale statistical surveys, it has also resulted in France, over the past twenty years, in regular investigations. However, these surveys suffer from a number of problems: the lack of thought concerning methods, the lack of a definition of the concept of values, the restriction of conscious awareness, authors not taking into account consideration of pertinence, and the absence of contextualization. We will discuss in conclusion the effects of these methodological problems in terms of results, and we present some ideas for a more rigorous empirical study of values.