SOC 3116 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Demography, Longitudinal Study, Social Forces

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 3116
• Professor: Chapman

Document Summary

Social scientists knew little about: how people lived their lives from childhood to old age, how their life pathways influenced the course of development and aging, the importance of historical and geographic contexts. Perspective was encouraged by the rapid diffusion of social surveys, which covered a wide breadth of topics with little depth, and the pursuit of grand theory. Those encompass changes in history, social demography, and scientific inquiry they converged to generate interest in life course research. Key idea: lives are influenced by an ever changing historical and biographical context. The life course as a theoretical orientation came from this desire to understand social pathways, their developmental effects, and their relation to personal and social-historical conditions. The trajectories of education and work, family and residences that are followed by individuals and groups through society. These pathways are shaped by historical forces and are often structured by social institutions.