Herri de Tourville opened a new era in social research when he developed a tool allowing for the analysis and classification of observations about a social group, which was published in 1886 under the name of "social facts nomenclature", whjich included 25 major categories and over 100 sub-categories relevant to localisation, wealth, income, education and religion. Going beyond the mere economic characteristics used by Le Play Henri de Tourville emphasized the « geographical space’s constraints » and their impact of individuals or social groups.Frédéric Parent, « L'École de la Science sociale et l'École durkheimienne de sociologie. Remarques à propos de psychologie collective et d'espace social », Les Études Sociales 2010/1 (n° 151), 120 pages, DOI : 10.3917/etsoc.151.0011, éditeur : Société d'économie et de science sociales, pp. 11 à 37 The "nomenclature" allowed comparisons of numerous elements (or variables) within a given society of even internationally, which in turn generated hypothesis that could be tested and determine two types of relations: causality or co-existence.
