Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T03:49:33.458Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

On Methods of Access to the Structure of Social Representations: the Example of Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Philippe Castel*
Affiliation:
Université de Bourgogne (France)
Rachel Morlot
Affiliation:
Université de Bourgogne (France)
Marie-Françoise Lacassagne
Affiliation:
Université de Bourgogne (France)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Philippe Castel. Laboratoire SocioPsychologie et Management du Sport (SPMS - EA 4180). Université de Bourgogne, Pôle AAFE, BP 26513, 21065 Dijon Cedex (France). Phone: +33(0)380393994. Fax: +33(0)380393995. E-mail: philippe.castel@u-bourgogne.fr

Abstract

The aim of this study is to identify the logic behind a range of statistical methods used to reveal the structure of social representations. Subjects (N = 317) were asked to answer the following question: “For each category of European person, please indicate which other European he would most like to have contact with”. The results of the similarity analysis lead us to the conclusion that there is an ethnocentric bias, and reveal the central factor of the representation. The representation obtained by factorial correspondence analysis seems closer to current reality and enables us to understand the divisions that have structured Europe and remained embedded in the subjects. Thus, the choice of analytical method is not merely anecdotal, given that representations obtained from the same data can vary immensely.

El objetivo de este estudio es identificar la lógica detrás de una serie de métodos estadísticos utilizados para revelar la estructura de las representaciones sociales. Se solicitó a un número de sujetos (n = 317) responder a la pregunta siguiente: “Para cada categoría de europeo, por favor indique con qué otros europeos le gustaría tener contacto”. Los resultados de los análisis de similitud nos llevan a la conclusión de que existe un sesgo etnocéntrico, y revelan el factor central de la representación. La representación obtenida por el análisis factorial de correspondencias se parece más a la realidad actual y nos permite entender las divisiones que han estructurado Europa y permanecen incorporadas en los sujetos. Por lo tanto, la elección del método analítico no es meramente anecdótica, puesto que las representaciones obtenidas a partir de los mismos datos pueden variar enormemente.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abric, J.-C., & Kahan, J. (1972). The effects of representations on behavior in experimental games. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 129144. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420020203CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benzecri, J. P., & Benzecri, F. (1980). Pratique de l'analyse de données, 1: Analyse des correspondances, exposé élémentaire [Practice of data analysis, 1: Correspondences analysis, the first theory]. Paris, France: Dunod.Google Scholar
Castel, P., Lacassagne, M.-F., & Salès-Wuillemin, E. (2002). Categorial points of view in social representation. Languages Science, 24, 667678. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0388-0001(01)00009-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curelaru, M., Nastras, D., & Puzdriac, C. (2000). L'intégration européenne et l'identité religieuse [European integration and religious identity]. Psichologia Sociale, 6, 223.Google Scholar
Codol, J.-P. (1984). La perception de la similitude interpersonnelle: Influence de l'appartenance catégorielle et du point de référence de la comparaison [Interpersonal similarity perception: The influence of the categorical belonging and the referent point of comparison]. Lannée Psychologique, 84, 4356. http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/psy.1984.29000CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Paolis, P., Doise, W., & Mugny, G. (1987). Social marking in cognitive operations. In Doise, W. & Moscovici, S. (Ed.), Current issues in European social psychology (pp. 145) Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Doise, W. (1985). Les représentations sociales. Définition d'un concept [Social representation: Definition of a concept]. Connexions, 45, 245253.Google Scholar
Doise, W., Clémence, A., & Lorenzi-Cioldi, F. (1992). Représentations sociales et analyse de données [Social representation and data analysis]. Grenoble, France: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble.Google Scholar
Doise, W., Clémence, A., & Lorezi-Cioldi, F. (1994). Prises de positions et principes organisateurs des représentations sociales [Positions and organizing principles of social representations]. In Guimelli, C. (Ed.), Structures et transformations des représentations sociales [Structures and transformations of social representations] (pp. 119152). Paris, France: Delachaux et Niestlé.Google Scholar
Doise, W., & Devos, T. (1999). Identité et interdépendance: Pour une psychologie sociale de l'Union européenne [Identity and interdependence: To go to a European social psychology]. Psychologie et Société, 1, 1127.Google Scholar
Duveen, G. (2001). Representations, identities, resistance. In Deaux, K. & Philogène, G. (Eds.), Representations of the social: Bridging Theoretical Traditions (pp. 257270). Oxford, England: Blackwell publishers.Google Scholar
Echebarria, A., Elejabarrieta, F., Valencia, J., & Villarreal, M. (1992). Représentations sociales de l'Europe et identités sociales [Social representations of Europe and social identities]. Bulletin de Psychologie, 45, 280288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flament, C. (1962). L'analyse de similitude [Similarity analysis]. Cahiers du Centre de Recherche Opérationnelle, 4, 6397.Google Scholar
Flament, C., (1981). L'analyse de similitude: Une technique pour les recherches sur les représentations sociales [Similarity analysis: How to work on social representations]. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive, 4, 357396.Google Scholar
Flament, C. (1987). Pratiques et représentations sociales [Practices and social representations]. In Beauvois, J.-L., Joule, R.-V., & Monteil, J.-M. (Eds.), Perspectives cognitives et conduites sociales [Social behavior and cognitive perspectives]. Cousset, Switzerland: DelVal.Google Scholar
Guimelli, C. (1989). Pratiques nouvelles et transformations sans rupture d'une représentation sociale: La représentation de la chasse et de la nature [New practices and soft transformation of a social representation: Hunting and nature representation]. In Beauvois, J.-L., Joule, R.-V., & Monteil, J.-M. (Eds.), Perspectives cognitives et conduites sociales [Social behavior and cognitive perspectives]. Cousset, Switzerland: DelVal.Google Scholar
Guimelli, C. (1995). L'étude des représentations sociales [Social representations studies]. Psychologie Française, 40, 367375.Google Scholar
Jaworska, N., & Chupetlovska-Anastasova, A. (2009). A review of multidimensional scaling (MDS) and its utility in various psychological domains. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 5(1), 110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jodelet, D. (1989). Les représentations sociales [Social representations]. Paris, France: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Le Bouédec, G. (1984). Contribution à la méthodologie d'étude des représentations sociales [Contribution to the study methodology of social representations]. Cahiers de Psychologie Cognitive, 4, 245272.Google Scholar
Licata, L. (2003). Representing the future of the European Union: Consequences on national and European identifications, Textes sur les Représentations Sociales, 12, 532.Google Scholar
Mac Laury, R. E. (1997). Color and cognition in Mesoamerica. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Mac Laury, R. E. (2000, July). Vantage theory as first formulated: A few basics. Proceedings of the 6th International Cognitive Linguistics Conference. Stockholm, Sweden.Google Scholar
Moliner, P., Rateau, P., & Cohen-Scali, V. (2002). Les représentations sociales: Pratique des études de terrain [Social representations: doing empirical studies]. Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Rennes.Google Scholar
Mollot, R., & Journiac, C. (2001). Représentations sociales de l'Europe: Etude comparative de deux cohortes (1996/1999) [Social representations of Europe: Comparative studies of two groups (1996/1999)]. In Sabatier, C., Palacio, J., & Namane, H. (Eds.), Savoirs et enjeux de l'interculturel: Nouvelles approches, nouvelles perspectives (pp. 121136). Paris, France: L'Harmattan.Google Scholar
Moloney, G. (2010). Acknowledging Gerard. Articulating social representations and identity through process and content: The resettlement of refugees in regional Austria. Papers on Social Representations, 19, 116Google Scholar
Moloney, G., & Blair, D. (2009, November). A community view of Coffs Harbour report. Paper presented at Coffs Harbourg Regional Art Gallery. Coff Harbour, Australia: Southern Coff UniversityGoogle Scholar
Monteil, J.-M., & Maillot, L. (1988). Eléments de la représentation sociale de la formation: Analyse d'une enquête auprès d'une population de formateurs [Elements concerning the social representation of adult education: Analysis of an inquiry concerning educators]. Connexions, 51, 926.Google Scholar
Monteil, J.-M., Bavent, L., Chambre, P., Joubin, O., Lacassagne, M.-F., & Maillot, L. (1985). Les formateurs, la formation et la représentation de son champ [Representation of educators and adult education]. Région Auvergne, France: Rapport E.P.R.Google Scholar
Morlot, R., & Castel, P. (2007). Les aspects identitaires des biais de catégorisation sociale: Le cas de la représentation de l'Europe [Social categorisation bias and identity: The example of Europe representation]. Cahiers de Psychologie Politique: L'Europe, 10. http://lodel.irevues.inist.fr/cahierspsychologiepolitique/index.php?id=930Google Scholar
Moscovici, S. (1961). La psychanalyse, son image et son public [The psychoanalysis, its image and its public]. Paris, France: Presses Universitaires de France.Google Scholar
Moscovici, S. (1963). Attitudes and opinions. Annual Review of Psychology, 14, 231260. http://dx.doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ps.14.020163.001311CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moscovici, S. (1988). Notes towards a description of social representations. European Journal of Social Psychology, 18, 211250. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2420180303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmonari, A., & Doise, W. (1986). Caractéristiques des représentations sociales [Characteristics of social representations]. In Doise, W. & Palmonari, A. (Eds.), L'étude des représentations sociales (pp. 1333). Paris, Neuchâtel: Delachaux et NiestléGoogle Scholar
Spini, D. (2002). Multidimensional Scaling: A technique for the quantitative analysis of common field of social representations. European Review of Applied Psychology, 52, 231240.Google Scholar
Tournois, J., & Dickes, P. (1993). Pratique de l'échelonnement multidimentionnel [How to do multidimensional scaling]. Louvain-la-Neuve, France: De Boeck.Google Scholar
Vergès, P., & Bouriche, B. (2001). L'analyse des données par les graphes de similitude [Data analysis by similarity graphs]. Sciences Humaines. http://www.scienceshumaines.com/textesInedits/Bouriche.pdfGoogle Scholar
Wagner, W., & Hayes, N. (2005). Every day discourse and common sense: The theory of social representations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar