The Evolution of Demographic Studies. An overview from the '80s: from a Macro Descriptive Perspective to Dynamic Analysis of Biographies

The aim of the paper is to review the evolution of different approaches to the analysis of population data from the mid-80’s of the XXth century until now. Demographers’ interests and theories, says J. Caldwell (2000), depend not only on data but also on changes and evolutions that the data reveal. In the period covered by the analysis one can identify different dimensions. Among the most important we have to recall the shift of the paradigm in dealing with demographic data and measures from a macro descriptive approach to the dynamic analysis of cohorts and biographical reconstructions. An effort is made to trace the evolution of demographic studies through the major international surveys on family and reproductive behavior (FFS and GGP) underlying new needs in collecting population data in order to answer new questions on the determinants of demographic behavior, and hence the population dynamics.