Laboratoire d'études des processus sociaux

2017-6-5, Dahinden, Janine

In this commentary, I discuss the importance of Portes, Guarnizo and Landolt’s article, focusing on three specific points. First, I argue that this 1999 article represented a turning point in transnational migration studies, in that it made it possible to address important weaknesses in this field of study. Second, I reflect on the article’s lack of reference to the nation-state and its power to shape transnational fields. Third, I argue that the cumulative knowledge gained over the last two decades – triggered in part by the claims of this 1999 article – have been steadily integrated into this field of investigation, rendering possible important theoretical alterations. These insights have made possible a shift towards a new stance, a transnational perspective whose specific epistemology makes it possible to develop explanatory frameworks for current transformation processes and to revise social theory more generally.

2007, Dahinden, Janine, Lerch, Mathias

2017, Iglesias, Katia, Gazareth, Pascale, Suter, Christian

This volume analyses the quantification of the effect of factors measuring subjective well-being, and in particular on the metrics applied. With happiness studies flourishing over the last decades, both in number of publications as well as in their exposure, researchers working in this field are aware of potential weaknesses and pitfalls of these metrics. Contributors to this volume reflect on different factors influencing quantification, such as scale size, wording, language, biases, and cultural comparability in order to raise awareness on the tools and on their conditions of use. In the contribution, we examine to what extent the decline in SWB in longitudinal data is a robust result showing an actual decrease or reflect some specific methodological artefacts of these data. We identified more precisely four possible methodological issues: non-random attrition (NRA), panel conditioning (PC), sample refreshment and aging of participants. We discuss the effect of these methodological issues on the measured evolution of SWB, that shows a different trend once these issues are neutralized.

2009, Moret, Joëlle, Dahinden, Janine

2012, Schoenenberger, Silvia, Achermann, Christin

2008, Hostettler, Ueli, Achermann, Christin, Da Cunha, Manuela P.

2007, Dahinden, Janine

2016, Dahinden, Janine

2014, Achermann, Christin, Achermann, Alberto, Amarelle, Cesla, Caroni, Martina, Epiney, Astrid, Kälin, Walter, Uebersax, Peter

2001, Efionayi-Mäder, Denise, Chimienti, Milena, Dahinden, Janine, Piguet, Etienne