Methods for reconciling the micro and macro in family demography research: a systematization
Article Sidebar
Published:
Jun 14, 2009
Keywords:
family demography, methodological individualism, multi-level event history models, agent-based computational models, meta-analyses
Main Article Content
Abstract
In the second half of the 20th century, scientific study of population changed its paradigm from the macro to the micro, so that attention focused mainly on individuals as the agents of demographic action. However, for accurate handling of all the complexities of human behaviours, the interactions between individuals and the context they belong to cannot be ignored. Therefore, in order to explain (or, at least, to understand) contemporary fertility and family dynamics, the gap between the micro and the macro should be bridged. In this contribution, we highlight two possible directions for bridging the gap: (1) integrating life-course analyses with the study of contextual characteristics, which is made possible by the emergence of the theory and tools of multi-level modelling; and (2) bringing the micro-level findings back to macro outcomes via meta-analytic techniques and agent-based computational models.
Article Details
How to Cite
Matysiak, A., & Vignoli, D. (2009). Methods for reconciling the micro and macro in family demography research: a systematization. Studia Demograficzne, (1(155), 98–109. Retrieved from https://econjournals.sgh.waw.pl/SD/article/view/2599
Section
Original research papers & review papers
References
[1] Adsera, A., 2005, Vanishing children: From high unemployment to low fertility in developed countries, 'American Economic Review", Vol. 95, No. 2: 189-193.
[2] Aassve A., Burgess S., Propper C. and Dickson M., 2006, Employment, family union and childbearing decisions in Great Britain, "Journal of the Royal Statistical Society", Vol. 169, No. 4: 781-804.
[3] Billari F.C., 2006, Bridging the gap between micro-demography and macro-demography, [in:] Caselli G., Vallin J. & Wunsch G. (Eds.), Demography: analysis and synthesis, Vol. 4, (pp. 695-707), Academic Press (Elsevier), New York.
[4] Billari F.C. and Ongaro F., 2000, Quale ruolo per una demografia computazionale? [Which Role for a Computational Demography?], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 245-256.
[5] Blossfeld H.P., 1996, Macro-sociology, Rational Choice Theory, and Time A Theoretical Perspective on the Empirical Analysis of Social Processes, "European Sociological Review", Vol. 12, No. 2: 181-206.
[6] Borra S., Racioppi F., 1995, Modelli di analisi per dati complessi: l'integrazione tra micro e macro nella ricerca multilevel [Modelling complex data structures: a bridge between micro and macro analysis in multilevel research], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica (pp. 303-314), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[7] Coleman, J.S., 1990, Foundations of social theory, Harvard University Press, Harvard.
[8] Courgeau D. and Lelievre E., 1997, Changing Paradigm in Demography, "Population: An English Selection", Vol. 9, No. 1: 1-10.
[9] De Bruijn B.J., 1999, Foundations of demographic theory: choice, process, theory, Thela Thesis, Amsterdam.
[10] De Rose A., 1995, Uniformitä di modelli individuali e divergenze di modelli collettivi nello studio dei comportamenti familiari [Micro-level homogeneity and macro-level heterogeneity in family behaviour analysis], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, "Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica" (pp. 323-330), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[11] Engelhardt H., Kogel T., & Prskawetz A., 2004, Fertility and women's employment reconsidered: A macro-level time-series analysis for developed countries, 1960-2000, "Population Studies", Vol. 58, No. 1: 109-120.
[12] Hedström P. and Swedberg R., 1999, Social mechanisms. An analytical approach to social theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[13] Kögel T., 2004, Did the association between fertility and female employment within OECD countries really change its sign?, "Journal of Population Economics", Vol. 17: 45-65.
[14] Kveder A., 2009, Generation and Gender Program - Micro-Macro Data Source on Generational and Gender Ties, Proceedings of the Conference, [in:] Italian Statistical Society, Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Large Data-Sets (pp. 35-38), Invited Papers, September 23-25, 2009, Pecsra (Italy).
[15] Matysiak A. and Vignoli D., 2008, Fertility and Women's Employment: A Meta-Analysis, "European Journal of Population", Vol. 24, No. 4: 363-384.
[16] Micheli G. and Rivellini G., 2000, Un contesto significativamente influente: appuntiper una modellazione multilevel ragionata [A Significantly Influential Context: Suggestions for Theory-Laden Multilevel Modelling], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 257-272.
[17] Muszyńska M., 2007, Structural and cultural determinants of fertility in Europe, Warsaw School of Economics Publishing, Warsaw.
[18] Philipov D., Thévenon O., Klobas J., Bernardi L. and Liefbroer A., 2009, Reproductive Decision-Making in a Macro-Micro Perspective (REPRO). State-of-the-Art Review. European Demographic Research Papers 2009(1), Vienna Institute for Demography. http://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/repro/assets/docs/ ed-researchpaper2009-1.pdf
[19] Pinnelli A., 1995, Introduzione alla sessione "Dimensione micro e macro dei comportamenti demografici: quadri concettuali e modelli di analisi [Introduction to the session], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica (pp. 285-290), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[20] Rindfuss R.R., Guzzo K. and Morgan S.P., 2003, The changing institutional context of low fertility, "Population Research and Policy Review", Vol. 22: 411-438.
[21] Rosina A. and Zaccarin S., 2000, Analisi esplicativa dei comportamenti individuali: una riflessione sul ruolo dei fattori macro [The Role of Macro Effects on Individual Behaviour] (pp. 273-284), proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000.
[22] Salvini S. and Santini A., 1999, Dalle biografie alle coorti, dalle coorti alle biografie [From biographies to cohorts, from cohorts to biographies], [in:] F. Billari, A. Bonaguidi, A. Rosina, S. Salvini and A. Santini (Eds.), Quadri concettuali per la ricerca in demografia, Serie Ricerche teoriche, Dipartimento di Statistica "G. Parenti", Firenze.
[23] Santini A., 2000, Introduzione alla sessione specializzata Analisi micro e macro negli studi demografici" [Introduction to the session], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 241-243.
[24] Shadish W.R., Cook T.D. and Campbell D.T., 2002, Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
[25] Schmitt C., 2008, Gender-specific effects of unemployment on family formation: a cross-national perspective, SOEP Discussion Paper No. 127. Berlin: DIW.
[26] Spielauer M., 2006, The Contextual Database of the Generations and Gender Programme, MPIDR Working Paper WP-2006-030, Rostock.
[27] Testa M.R. and Grilli, L., 2006, The influence of childbearing regional contexts on ideal family size in Europe, "Population (English edition)", Vol. 61, No. 1-2: 99-127.
[28] Udehn L., 2002, The changing face of methodological individualism, "Annual Review of Sociology", Vol. 28: 479-507.
[29] Van Imhoff E. and Post W., 1998, Microsimulation models for population projection, "Population (English Edition)" Vol. 10, No. 1: 97-136.
[30] Vignoli D. and Matysiak A., 2009, "Reconciling" Micro and Macro in Family Demography Research: An update, [in:] Italian Statistical Society, Proceedings of the Conference "Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Large Data-Sets" (pp. 31-34.), Invited Papers, September 23-25, 2009, Pescara (Italy).
[31] Vikat A., Speder Z., Beets G., Billari F.C., Buhler C., Desesquelles A., Fokkema T., Hoem J.M., MacDonald A., Neyer G., Pailhe A., Pinnelli A. and Solaz A., 2007, Generations and Gender Survey (GGS): Towards a better understanding of relationships and processes in the life course, "Demographic Research" 17, Article 14: 389-440.
[32] Voss P., 2007, Demography as a Spatial Social Science, "Population Research and Policy Review", Vol. 26, No. 4: 457-476.
[33] Wachter K., 1997, Kinship Resources for the Elderly, "Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences", Vol. 352, No. 1363: 1811-1817.
[34] Wagner M. and Weiss B., 2006, On the Variation of Divorce Risks in Europe: Findings from a Meta-Analysis of European Longitudinal Studies, "European Sociological Review", Vol. 22, No. 5: 483-500.
[35] Willekens, F.J. ,1991, Understanding the interdependence between parallel careers, [in:] J.J. Siegers, J. de Jong-Gierveld, and E. van Imhoff (Eds.), Female labour market behaviour and fertility: A rational-choice approach, Berlin: Springer.
[36] Willekens, F.J., 1999, The life-course approach: Models and analysis, [in:] L.J.G. Van Wissen and P.A. Dykstra (Eds.), Population issues. An interdisciplinary focus, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[37] Waldorf B. and Byun P., 2005, Meta-analysis of the impact of age structure on fertility, "Journal of Population Economics", Vol. 18: 15-40.
[38] Willekens, F. de Beer J. and van der Gaag N., 2005, MicMac From demographic to biographic forecasting. Paper prepared for presentation at the Joint Eurostat - ECE Work Session on Demographic Projections, September 21-23, 2005, Vienna.
[39] Zaccarin S. and Rivellini G., 2002, Multilevel analysis in social research: An application of a cross-classified model, "Statistical Methods & Applications", Vol. 11: 95-108.
[2] Aassve A., Burgess S., Propper C. and Dickson M., 2006, Employment, family union and childbearing decisions in Great Britain, "Journal of the Royal Statistical Society", Vol. 169, No. 4: 781-804.
[3] Billari F.C., 2006, Bridging the gap between micro-demography and macro-demography, [in:] Caselli G., Vallin J. & Wunsch G. (Eds.), Demography: analysis and synthesis, Vol. 4, (pp. 695-707), Academic Press (Elsevier), New York.
[4] Billari F.C. and Ongaro F., 2000, Quale ruolo per una demografia computazionale? [Which Role for a Computational Demography?], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 245-256.
[5] Blossfeld H.P., 1996, Macro-sociology, Rational Choice Theory, and Time A Theoretical Perspective on the Empirical Analysis of Social Processes, "European Sociological Review", Vol. 12, No. 2: 181-206.
[6] Borra S., Racioppi F., 1995, Modelli di analisi per dati complessi: l'integrazione tra micro e macro nella ricerca multilevel [Modelling complex data structures: a bridge between micro and macro analysis in multilevel research], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica (pp. 303-314), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[7] Coleman, J.S., 1990, Foundations of social theory, Harvard University Press, Harvard.
[8] Courgeau D. and Lelievre E., 1997, Changing Paradigm in Demography, "Population: An English Selection", Vol. 9, No. 1: 1-10.
[9] De Bruijn B.J., 1999, Foundations of demographic theory: choice, process, theory, Thela Thesis, Amsterdam.
[10] De Rose A., 1995, Uniformitä di modelli individuali e divergenze di modelli collettivi nello studio dei comportamenti familiari [Micro-level homogeneity and macro-level heterogeneity in family behaviour analysis], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, "Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica" (pp. 323-330), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[11] Engelhardt H., Kogel T., & Prskawetz A., 2004, Fertility and women's employment reconsidered: A macro-level time-series analysis for developed countries, 1960-2000, "Population Studies", Vol. 58, No. 1: 109-120.
[12] Hedström P. and Swedberg R., 1999, Social mechanisms. An analytical approach to social theory, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
[13] Kögel T., 2004, Did the association between fertility and female employment within OECD countries really change its sign?, "Journal of Population Economics", Vol. 17: 45-65.
[14] Kveder A., 2009, Generation and Gender Program - Micro-Macro Data Source on Generational and Gender Ties, Proceedings of the Conference, [in:] Italian Statistical Society, Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Large Data-Sets (pp. 35-38), Invited Papers, September 23-25, 2009, Pecsra (Italy).
[15] Matysiak A. and Vignoli D., 2008, Fertility and Women's Employment: A Meta-Analysis, "European Journal of Population", Vol. 24, No. 4: 363-384.
[16] Micheli G. and Rivellini G., 2000, Un contesto significativamente influente: appuntiper una modellazione multilevel ragionata [A Significantly Influential Context: Suggestions for Theory-Laden Multilevel Modelling], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 257-272.
[17] Muszyńska M., 2007, Structural and cultural determinants of fertility in Europe, Warsaw School of Economics Publishing, Warsaw.
[18] Philipov D., Thévenon O., Klobas J., Bernardi L. and Liefbroer A., 2009, Reproductive Decision-Making in a Macro-Micro Perspective (REPRO). State-of-the-Art Review. European Demographic Research Papers 2009(1), Vienna Institute for Demography. http://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/repro/assets/docs/ ed-researchpaper2009-1.pdf
[19] Pinnelli A., 1995, Introduzione alla sessione "Dimensione micro e macro dei comportamenti demografici: quadri concettuali e modelli di analisi [Introduction to the session], [in:] Sosieta Italiana di Statistica, Continuitä e discontinuitä nei processi demografici. L'Italia nella transizione demografica (pp. 285-290), April 20-21 1995, Universita degli Studi della Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende: Rubbettino, Soveria Mannelli.
[20] Rindfuss R.R., Guzzo K. and Morgan S.P., 2003, The changing institutional context of low fertility, "Population Research and Policy Review", Vol. 22: 411-438.
[21] Rosina A. and Zaccarin S., 2000, Analisi esplicativa dei comportamenti individuali: una riflessione sul ruolo dei fattori macro [The Role of Macro Effects on Individual Behaviour] (pp. 273-284), proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000.
[22] Salvini S. and Santini A., 1999, Dalle biografie alle coorti, dalle coorti alle biografie [From biographies to cohorts, from cohorts to biographies], [in:] F. Billari, A. Bonaguidi, A. Rosina, S. Salvini and A. Santini (Eds.), Quadri concettuali per la ricerca in demografia, Serie Ricerche teoriche, Dipartimento di Statistica "G. Parenti", Firenze.
[23] Santini A., 2000, Introduzione alla sessione specializzata Analisi micro e macro negli studi demografici" [Introduction to the session], proceedings of the XL Riunione Scientifica della Societa Italiana di Statistica, Firenze, 04 26-28 2000, pp. 241-243.
[24] Shadish W.R., Cook T.D. and Campbell D.T., 2002, Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.
[25] Schmitt C., 2008, Gender-specific effects of unemployment on family formation: a cross-national perspective, SOEP Discussion Paper No. 127. Berlin: DIW.
[26] Spielauer M., 2006, The Contextual Database of the Generations and Gender Programme, MPIDR Working Paper WP-2006-030, Rostock.
[27] Testa M.R. and Grilli, L., 2006, The influence of childbearing regional contexts on ideal family size in Europe, "Population (English edition)", Vol. 61, No. 1-2: 99-127.
[28] Udehn L., 2002, The changing face of methodological individualism, "Annual Review of Sociology", Vol. 28: 479-507.
[29] Van Imhoff E. and Post W., 1998, Microsimulation models for population projection, "Population (English Edition)" Vol. 10, No. 1: 97-136.
[30] Vignoli D. and Matysiak A., 2009, "Reconciling" Micro and Macro in Family Demography Research: An update, [in:] Italian Statistical Society, Proceedings of the Conference "Statistical Methods for the Analysis of Large Data-Sets" (pp. 31-34.), Invited Papers, September 23-25, 2009, Pescara (Italy).
[31] Vikat A., Speder Z., Beets G., Billari F.C., Buhler C., Desesquelles A., Fokkema T., Hoem J.M., MacDonald A., Neyer G., Pailhe A., Pinnelli A. and Solaz A., 2007, Generations and Gender Survey (GGS): Towards a better understanding of relationships and processes in the life course, "Demographic Research" 17, Article 14: 389-440.
[32] Voss P., 2007, Demography as a Spatial Social Science, "Population Research and Policy Review", Vol. 26, No. 4: 457-476.
[33] Wachter K., 1997, Kinship Resources for the Elderly, "Philosophical Transactions: Biological Sciences", Vol. 352, No. 1363: 1811-1817.
[34] Wagner M. and Weiss B., 2006, On the Variation of Divorce Risks in Europe: Findings from a Meta-Analysis of European Longitudinal Studies, "European Sociological Review", Vol. 22, No. 5: 483-500.
[35] Willekens, F.J. ,1991, Understanding the interdependence between parallel careers, [in:] J.J. Siegers, J. de Jong-Gierveld, and E. van Imhoff (Eds.), Female labour market behaviour and fertility: A rational-choice approach, Berlin: Springer.
[36] Willekens, F.J., 1999, The life-course approach: Models and analysis, [in:] L.J.G. Van Wissen and P.A. Dykstra (Eds.), Population issues. An interdisciplinary focus, Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
[37] Waldorf B. and Byun P., 2005, Meta-analysis of the impact of age structure on fertility, "Journal of Population Economics", Vol. 18: 15-40.
[38] Willekens, F. de Beer J. and van der Gaag N., 2005, MicMac From demographic to biographic forecasting. Paper prepared for presentation at the Joint Eurostat - ECE Work Session on Demographic Projections, September 21-23, 2005, Vienna.
[39] Zaccarin S. and Rivellini G., 2002, Multilevel analysis in social research: An application of a cross-classified model, "Statistical Methods & Applications", Vol. 11: 95-108.