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French Quantitative History: Problems and Promises

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 January 2016

Patrice Bourdelais
Patrice Bourdelais*
Affiliation:
Centre de Recherches Historiques, EHESS, Paris
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Extract

Due to the central position it assigns to the longue durée, the Annales school—impetus for and crossroads of historical debate—used quantitative methods from the beginning and granted them their patents of nobility. For some decades now, it has been inconceivable for good historical research in France not to devote an important part of its efforts to the measuring of phenomena. True, the Annales school has never spoken with a single voice; the changes that have occurred in its membership and in neighboring disciplines, as well as new historical sensibilities, have modified its original characteristics. The study directed by A Burguière of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales will soon report on the content and evolution of the themes, the network of contributors, and the intellectual climate that shaped the first generation of the Annales. Therefore this article limits itself to a rapid survey of publications, followed by an examination of the distinctive traits of the quantitative dimension of French historical work, the directions for and reasons behind new research. The picture must remain somewhat general because it focuses on only three major points: the preeminence of serial history over quantitative history; the underrepresentation of international comparative works, despite the example of F. Braudel; and the development of individual-level data banks, an important source for social and serial history.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Social Science History , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , Spring 1984, pp. 179 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Social Science History Association 1984 

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Footnotes

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Editors’ Note: This article was translated by Hannelore L. Flessa-Jarausch.

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