When sociology was being shaped as a discipline, education promptly emerged as an important component of the field. Studying the role of education in sociology in a quantitative manner has seen many changes and developments over the last two centuries. At first, quantitative data was mainly dealt with as a way to support theories rather than drive them. Émile Durkheim theorized on educational systems as a social construct, used for the replication of social norms and values, and Karl Marx also believed that education was shaped to maintain the economic system; Max Weber was concerned with educational institutions becoming an increasingly limiting force on academic freedom. Talcott Parsons saw education as a force to maintain equilibrium and social order; Pierre Bourdieu argued that educational [Page ...