Geometric Data Analysis in a Social Science Research Program ...
Geometric Data Analysis in a Social Science Research Program ...
Geometric Data Analysis in a Social Science Research Program ...
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GDA<strong>in</strong>a<strong>Social</strong><strong>Science</strong><strong>Research</strong><strong>Program</strong>:TheCaseofBourdieu'sSociology 7<br />
1.3FromMultidimensionalitytoGeometry<br />
Bourdieuverysoonreferredtowhathecallsdiversespeciesofcapital:economic,cul-<br />
tural,socialandsymbolic.Hisscienticobjective,withthistheoreticalapparatus,wasto<br />
counter{balanceapurelyeconomicvisionofsociety(symbolizedbymicroeconomiststry<strong>in</strong>g<br />
toexpandthevalidityofeconomicmanlikeGaryBecker).Itwasalso,atthesametime,<br />
tocontestapurelyidealisticvisionoftheculturaldoma<strong>in</strong>developed<strong>in</strong>culturalanthro-<br />
pology,structurall<strong>in</strong>guistics,literarystudiesorphilosophy,by<strong>in</strong>troduc<strong>in</strong>ganeconomyof<br />
symbolicgoods.Hetriedto<strong>in</strong>tegratedierentdimensionsofsociallife<strong>in</strong>theperspectiveof<br />
a\generaleconomyofpractices"<strong>in</strong>l<strong>in</strong>ewiththeDurkheimianproject(Lebaron2003[29]).<br />
Attheendofthe1960s,Bourdieuturnedto<strong>Data</strong><strong>Analysis</strong>,be<strong>in</strong>gthemethodmost<strong>in</strong><br />
\electiveanities"withhisowntheory(Rouanetetal.2000[33]).Hedevelopedtheidea<br />
thatif\quantication"istotakeplace<strong>in</strong>sociologicalresearch,ithastobemultidimensional<br />
andtoaimasarststepatmak<strong>in</strong>goperationaleachofthebasicdimensionsofsocialspace,<br />
namelythevarioustypesofcapitals,e.g.economic,cultural,socialandsymbolic;thenext<br />
stepbe<strong>in</strong>gtocomb<strong>in</strong>ethemsoastoprovideageometricmodelofdata.<br />
L'anatomiedugo^ut(Bourdieu&Sa<strong>in</strong>t-Mart<strong>in</strong>1976[13])istherstpublishedapplica-<br />
tionof<strong>Geometric</strong><strong>Data</strong><strong>Analysis</strong>methods<strong>in</strong>Bourdieu'swork,republished<strong>in</strong>1979<strong>in</strong>La<br />
dist<strong>in</strong>ction.Thedatawerecollectedthroughasurveydoneontwocomplementarysamples,<br />
us<strong>in</strong>gthesamebasicquestionnaire.Thescienticobjectiveoftheworkwasrsttoprovide<br />
asyntheticvisionoftheFrenchsocialspaceasaglobalstructure,andtostudytwosub-<br />
sectorsmore<strong>in</strong>{depth:thespaceofthedom<strong>in</strong>antclassesandthespaceofthemiddle{classes<br />
(\petite{bourgeoisie"),eachstudybe<strong>in</strong>gbasedontheanalysisofanIndividualsVariables<br />
table(takenfromtherespectivesub{population).AscanbeseenontheFigures1.1(p.8)<br />
and1.2(p.9),thema<strong>in</strong>elementsofthegeometricmodel<strong>in</strong>gofdatawerealreadypresent<br />
<strong>in</strong>thiswork,asHenryRouanet,WernerAckermannandBrigitteLeRouxhaveprecisely<br />
shown<strong>in</strong>anarticleoftheBullet<strong>in</strong>demethodologiesociologique(Rouanetetal.2000[33]).<br />
CAwasappliedtoanIndividualsVariablestable,whichwasacommonpracticeatthe<br />
time,whentheuseofMCAwasnotyetdeveloped.Thechoiceofactiveandsupplementary<br />
variableswassubtle:questionsonalargenumberoftastesandculturalpracticeswere<br />
takenasactivevariables;socio-demographicandoccupational<strong>in</strong>formationwereusedas<br />
supplementaryelements;<strong>in</strong>therstpublication,theywereguredonatransparentwhich<br />
couldbesuperposedtotherstpr<strong>in</strong>cipalplanresult<strong>in</strong>gfromtheCA.Thistechniqueof<br />
visualizationgivesan<strong>in</strong>tuitionofthesociologicalrelationsbetweenthespaceoftastes<br />
(lifestyles)andthespaceofsocialpositions.<br />
Thecloudof<strong>in</strong>dividualswaspresent<strong>in</strong>thepublishedanalysis:forspecicfractionsof<br />
thedom<strong>in</strong>antclassesthedispersionof<strong>in</strong>dividualswasmadeobviousthroughthecontoursof<br />
varioussubclouds(patrons,professionsliberales)drawnbyhand.Thisiswhatwillbecalled<br />
later\structur<strong>in</strong>gfactors":thecloudof<strong>in</strong>dividualsissystematicallystructuredbyexternal<br />
factors<strong>in</strong>l<strong>in</strong>ewiththemethodologyofStructured<strong>Data</strong><strong>Analysis</strong>(LeRoux&Rouanet<br />
2004[25]).Speciesofcapitalare\fundamentaldimensions"ofthespaceto<strong>in</strong>vestigate;<br />
theircomb<strong>in</strong>ation,therstpr<strong>in</strong>cipaldimensionswhichare<strong>in</strong>terpreted,isaspecicresult<br />
ofeachanalysis.Theresult<strong>in</strong>gglobalsocialspacedescribed<strong>in</strong>Ladist<strong>in</strong>ctionisthree-<br />
dimensional:therstthreedimensionsare<strong>in</strong>terpreted<strong>in</strong>termsofthevolumeofcapital,<br />
compositionofcapital,andseniority<strong>in</strong>theclass.<br />
Whenreferr<strong>in</strong>gtothespaceofthedom<strong>in</strong>antclassesorthe\petite-bourgeoisie"(athen<br />
bi{dimensionalspace,the\volume"dimensionbe<strong>in</strong>gcontrolled),thersttwoaxesare<br />
<strong>in</strong>terpreted<strong>in</strong>termsofcapitalcomposition(Axis1)andseniority<strong>in</strong>theclass(Axis2).<br />
Theanalysisresults<strong>in</strong>astrongsociologicalstatementabouttheexistenceofastructural
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