Statistics in Sociology

Abstract

Maurice Halbwachs develops in this text a reflection on the statistical method and its use in sociology. Inspired by the work of his friend François Simiand, Halbwachs claimed the discovery of statistical research from the domain of social sciences. As it is also an extremely productive methodology for the production of data, it has also been used by other sciences, especially the natural sciences. However, Halbwachs points out, according to Simiand, that the statistical results used in the natural sciences should not be confused with those interested in the social sciences. How is statistical research different when it is concerned with a fact of nature or of a social fact? This text tries to answer to this question.