Statistics and surveys/Statistiques et sondages

Discussion

Hello everyone! While looking through statistical archives on various French websites, I decided to look at issues that are very controversial in the United States today to see what the French thought about these topics. I found statistics on the cloning of humans, and we seem to be of similar opinion. About half the French thought that cloning is a good thing if it will help cure medical diseases and about half didn't (46 and 51%). Opinion in the United States is also split pretty evenly.
Another issue I looked at was homosexuality. In America, the issue of gay rights is extremely politically charged, and most likely will not be resolved anytime soon. For the United States, the average French person's position on homosexuality is counted as quite liberal. One of the questions on a French survey asked if gay people living together should be the subject of laws or is strictly a private issue which the law should not interfere with. 74% of about 1000 surveyed said that it should strictly be a private issue, which is very much unlike what America thinks! As you know, Bush tried to push for an amendment to the United States constitution that would ban gay marriage. Also, in the United States, homosexuals get none of the benefits that those who are married have. This of course is the very opposite of France's PACS. If the United States ever passed a law like that, I'm sure half of our population would try to secede. Is the issue of gay rights very controversial in France? What are some issues that divide the French? Do religious organizations play a huge role in politics like they do in the United States?

I found a couple surveys on religion. From the statistics I found, it seems that a significant percentage of the French population is atheist or agnostic, and even of the people that do believe in God, very few follow a religion seriously. To the French students: Do you follow a particular religion, and if so, which religion?

Looking at the different polls in the websites, my brother and I found one really interesting about french women's infidelity during vacation. First of all, why on vacation? Is it because french women are alone during vacations? Why aren't they with their husbands? In turns out that only 16% of the 410 women said they wouldn't cheat on her husbands. This poll makes it seem like cheating is something common in France. What do you think about this?

Hi,
According to one study, both personal and professional travel has increased tremendously in the past few years. I was wondering, what role do you think the formation of the EU has played in this increase? In one of the forums, one of you mentioned that moving between country and country has been immensely simplified. How did this affect leisure travel? Thanks.

Another question =). In one study, for "Les évolutions souhaitées pour les 25 prochaines années", 56% of those surveyed responded with "les énergies renouvelables"; 35% for "L'allongement de la durée de la vie"; and 26% for "Les bénéfices des découvertes en médecine génétique". What about you guys? What do you most look forward to in the next 25 years? Thanks.

In ipsos, I found it interesting that over 60% of French women respected their companion's privacy, similar to the way the French respect the private lives of their politicians, and don't dramatize them for elections, like in the US. In the same survey, I found out that of the negative characteristics a man could have, "macho" was one of the highest selected for the most agreable characteristic and the 2nd highes for the least agreable. Do you find being macho one of the more agreable negative traits a person could have? or do you believe it is one of the worst? Being macho is sometimes associated with being chauvinistic, which the French are notorious for. (how else did we get that word? :-).) What are your views on the negative characteristics of French people? Of those, which do you find most and least agreable?

I was reading a survey (from 1997) that asked about a four day week for students. I don't know much about the French education system, so, can someone tell whether this was ever implemented, or whether they're trying to implement it? Also, what do French people think about the education system in France?

I also looked into infidelity, as Julian and Javier. Yes, it is weird that infidelity is so high among women on vacation. However, when you compare this data to the ones about general adultery itself, it is more convincing that this is true. In France, about 35% of men and 22% women admitted to having committed adultery in their marriage lives. In the US, 14% of women and 25% male admitted to having cheated on their spouse. These numbers are alarming, to me. I wonder, are you students aware that the numbers are this high? I am completely oblivious to this situation. However, I have always been a loyal to love anyway. As the saying goes, "the current flows heavily, but one drink is enough." This really makes me anxious about the future in my love life.

Ryan and I found the survey that we looked at very similar to the forums we have been looking at. We researched "family" and we found that most children and parents value the notion of respect. It was the most important value that parents teach to their children. Also, we found that most people interviewed(90%) said they have great parents and they enjoy spending time with them. SOmething that was pleasingly surprising was that about 70% of children said that they feel comfortable talking to their parents about their personal lives,...this is not always the case here. A lot of children-teens talk to their friends as opposed to their families. Overall, the surveys that we looked at confirmed that the French consider their family to be extremely important and the notion of respect essential in the education of children.

Salut à tous...et ben dites moi je suis gâtés...ça fait beaucoup de questions... :p Alors procédons par ordre: Salut Tiffany, il y a quelques temps il y a eut une polémique en France concernant un mariage homosexuel proclamé dans une commune contre l'accord de l'Etat. Ce mariage n'était que pure provocation. Je pense que la communauté gay prend de plus en plus de place car aujourd'hui elle peut librement s'affirmer, et c'est une bonne chose. Le seul point qui peut diviser l'opinion, est l'adoption...je ne sais pas si cela va aboutir mais pour le moment je crois qu'il y a une certaine réticence. Moi même je ne sais pas ce qui est le mieux. On sait que le cadre familial est très important pour un enfant jeune car c'est de là qu'il prend des repères et des valeurs. On voit très bien que dans les famille monoparentales ou dans les famille où il y a des problèmes, ce cadre n'est pas stable et l'enfant perd souvent des repère. Alors je ne sais pas si dans un cadre, qui par définition ne sera pas conventionnel (si l'enfant se compare avec ses camarades de classe), si cela n'aura pas une influence sur lui. Sinon je ne suis pas contre l'adoption ça me paraît normal, mais je me pose des questions quant au devenir de l'enfant. Pour ce qui est des organisations religieuses, je trouve qu'elles se neutralisent, surtout avec le principe de laïcité. Je trouve que chaque religion a sa place en France et les problèmes viennent souvent de l'extérieur car certaines communauté n'apprécient pas la façon dont l'Etat impose certaines règles çà celles-ci.
Salut Cecilia...je ne veux pas parler à la place des autres et je ne pense pas être capable de te dire qui pratique telle ou telle religion. Moi personnellement j'ai reçu une éducation religieuse, mais j'ai choisi de ne pas m'investir dans la pratique....j'ai quelques idées sur la religions qui pourraient faire dresser les cheveux sur la tête de certains. Salut Yi et Dong à lire vos postes, on dirait que vous vous intéressez de très prêt à tout ce qui touche à la triche (à l'école, en classe...) en France :) Mais c’est très difficile de répondre car je ne me sens pas concerné, mais pour prendre ton idée d’expressions traduisant ma pensée : « Ce n’est pas parce qu’on est au régime que l’on a pas le droit de regarder le menu ! » ou « Ce n’est pas parce qu’on regarde le menu que l’on va passer à table ! » Ca résume bien ce que je pense et surtout, ça souligne qu’on a quand même le droit de regarder le menu :p
Salut Aline, je pense que le machisme n’est pas un trait de caractère français mais plutôt méditerranéen car on le retrouve dans beaucoup de pays qui la borde. Je ne trouve moins développé dans le nord de la France que dans le Sud. Pour ce qui est des défauts je crois qu’il n faut pas chercher très loin : le Français est râleur, que tout aille bien ou que tout aille mal, il n’est jamais content, râle tout le temps et cherche à se justifier en permanence. Je pense aussi qu’il n’aime pas trop le changement et s’attache bien souvent à l’héritage du passé (il n’aime pas qu’on lui change ses habitudes…) ; du coup je pense que ça en fait quelqu’un d’un peu rude au premier abord. Pour le trait le plus agréable, je ne pense pas pouvoir répondre…il y en a tellement…hahahaha…non je rigole, après on va me dire que je suis chauvin :). C’est difficile de juger, il vaut mieux demander aux personnes de ta classe qui sont déjà venus en France…alors ?
Bon à mon tour maintenant…J’ai lu souvent dans certains sondages que : « Ils sont opportunistes, réalistes et reconnaissent le talent par les faits et non seulement les mots, ils choisissent des solutions pratiques. L’Américain donne suite aux décisions. Il a aussi des mauvais côtés, comme parfois de l’arrogance mais de très mauvais je n’arrive pas à en trouver ! L’Américain peut être très procédurier. Il est assez naïf, il croit les grands mots, il est impressionnable » (copier/coller d’un article). Mais du coup est ce une personne sur qui on peut réellement compter ? J’ai l’impression que l’on pourrait se prendre un procès à tous les coins de rues, surtout avec l’harcèlement sexuel…comment arrive t’on à voir la limite entre la bonne entente et ce qui est qualifié de l’harcèlement sexuel au USA ? J’aurai l’impression de devoir réfléchir au moindre de mes actes…ce qui enlève la spontanéité. Qu’en pensez-vous ? Dites moi que je me trompe…(j’espère avoir répondu à tout le monde…car j’ai mal aux doigts :-) )

I focused my search on government on ipsos and I noticed in a recent poll that more people from the "left" are unhappy with the current government in France. How would you characterize "left" versus "right" in France? In the US, the "left" is much more conservative than France's "left". Also, I found it interesting that many people that were surveyed think that the next few months will have social conflicts that probably can't be solved. Do you know what they are talking about?

I looked at French and American attitudes about marriage, and it seemed like more Americans thought that marriage was supposed to last forever, whereas fewer French thought that and fewer French got married. I couldn't help but compare these sentiments to statistics about high rates of divorce in the US, and I'm wondering if marriage is not idealized in France in television shows/books/films the way it is in the US. Perhaps thinking marriage is difficult and may not be forever is a healthier attitude - what do you think?

not to repeat too much what yuliya said, but i've always found it interesting that almost every other culture that i've studied stresses respect as a prime value in raising children. at the same time that i've always thought this is a key value that american kids tend to lack, i feel like we're more direct and open with our elders, which is something that i value. Would you say that in France, kids are less open and direct with their elders, or do they just do it in a more respectful manner?

I looked into the French opinion of transit strikes, like on the Paris metro. It seems that the French want as little governmental intervention as possible in their transport affairs in general. It's funny, because transportation is by nature a government issue - just look at the high level of subsidy the services receive. Public transit can't make money anywhere, so it'd probably be hard for any privatized entity to be profitable...

Ryan you make some excellent observations regarding American parenting. Things so essential to the species, such as raising children, tend to share many common values across cultures.

I looked into French schooling. French students, for the most part, believed in the quality of their professors, but also that they were too strict and too impenetrable. I wonder if school environments are appropriate cross sections for the greater society in which they are contained. I would venture to hypothesize that the French expect strong authority in their lives, but simultaneously revolt against it in its practice. What say you?

One interesting statistic I looked at said that French are now more concerned with world hunger and poverty, and less with internal French affairs. Also the statistic claimed that many of those concerned felt that capitalism and the free market were responsible for poverty or famine in the developing world. Is it obvious that a lot of the French feel that way? What do you think?

Hi. I was really interested in reading a response to my questions posted earlier in this forum. If someone can check them (third post) and give an opinion I will appreciate it.

engage