[Causality, systems, and dynamic models. Three approaches of the explanation in demography]

The authors compare three methods of demographic analysis: "causal analysis, the transition models and the dynamic models. The purpose of these three approaches is not the same: transition models examine the transformation of a system during a given period; the dynamic model outlines the evolution of a social process through time; the causal analysis describes the mechanism through which the causes produce its effects. The three approaches differ also in the way they take time into account...[In particular,] causal static models are not pertinent in demographic research." (SUMMARY IN ENG)