Life stages, thresholds and trajectories

The humanities and social sciences research units have developed multiple approaches to life stages and these subjects involve a wide variety of disciplines that are represented at CNRS Humanities & Social Sciences. This research can specifically focus on one stage of life (childhood, adolescence, old age, etc.) and also on the major life stages like birth, marriage/living together, mobility or migration. Some of the researchers also adopt a more transversal approach to the, often porous, boundaries between these life stages and some focus more generally on the life cycle of individuals and on longitudinal monitoring of people's lives over the long-term. This research requires and involves thought about the age categories generally used in sociological analyses. It also looks into threshold effects on our understanding of these different states and on individuals' life paths.

This research may have historical, economic or sociological dimensions and involves a variety of survey methods - quantitative analysis of cohorts, qualitative analysis of life paths and also mixed methods.

Research centers and networks