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"Culture" statistical office

The "ministerial statistical office for Culture" is the Department of Studies, Forward Planning, and Statistics (Département des Études et de la Prospective et des Statistiques: DEPS) of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. It covers all areas of cultural life: architecture, archives, libraries, museums, cinema, books, music, theater, dance, plastic arts, and cultural heritage.

Contents

Main missions

DEPS has three missions:

  • to contribute to the analysis of facts and institutions of cultural life through studies and research in different fields of social science (economics, sociology, history, political science, etc.)
  • to gather and prepare statistics on culture
  • to make documentary information available to government, culture professionals, and researchers

DEPS work projects meet the expectations of many players in cultural life: Ministry departments, local government bodies, cultural enterprises, public cultural institutions, culture professionals, and researchers.

Statistical production

The main areas of statistical production are:

  • cultural employment and demographics of cultural occupations
  • analysis of funding of cultural activities, both public (central government, regions, départements, and municipalities) and private (corporate sponsorship, etc.)
  • cultural practices of the French population
  • activities of cultural facilities and institutions
  • higher education in the arts and cultural fields

The office's entire statistical production and data from external sources are collected in a cultural statistics database (Base de Données de Statistiques Culturelles: BDSC). A selection of BDSC data provides material for the annual publication entitled Chiffres clés, statistiques de la Culture.

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Studies

The studies and research program is submitted annually for approval to the Ministerial Council for Studies (Conseil Ministériel des Études). The program is implemented by DEPS research officers (chargés d'études) or commissioned, under their supervision, from research organizations or specialized academic teams. These studies cover six areas:

  • economics
  • employment
  • education and training
  • public funding, geographic coverage
  • categories of the public; practices
  • international issues

DEPS works with major public organizations engaged in studies (French Planning Office, study and research departments of other ministries, etc.) and with European and international organizations (such as Eurostat, UNESCO, and the Council of Europe).

DEPS is routinely invited to participate in events at higher-education institutions (most notably the Universities of Paris-V, Paris-VII, and Paris-X, École Nationale du Patrimoine, and Instituts d'Études Politiques of Paris and Grenoble) and in conferences in France and abroad.

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Status in institution

A decree of August 18, 2004, linked DEPS to the Development and International Affairs Unit (Délégation au Développement et aux Affaires Internationales: DDAI) of the Ministry of Culture and Communication. The unit is tasked with conducting studies, issuing proposals, coordination, and monitoring cross-sectional policies. It is in charge of studies and research on scientific, technological, sociological, and economic aspects.

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