China Bound, Revised A Guide to Academic Life and Work in the PRC (1994) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
4. Research
4. Research
Pages 83-114
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 83... ...
The concept of field research is broad from the social scientist who lives in the city and conducts interviews with respondents outside his own work unit, to the rural fieldworker who spends weeks or months in a county seat or village, to scientists conducting research on animal behavior or geology in remote parts of the country. Several general rules apply.
|
From page 84... ...
More Chinese scholars are doing research on topics of interest to Americans, and Americans are being invited to more conferences, where Chinese and foreign scholars can interact and find out what colleagues in their field are doing. Collaborative research projects are increasing, and so, , '_.
|
From page 85... ...
Most are happy to share with others what they wish they had known before going. For example, both Chinese and American colleagues can provide advice on the most appropriate host units for your work.
|
From page 86... ...
Some foreign scholars have identified Chinese colleagues with whom they wanted to collaborate only to find upon arrival that the foreign affairs office at the university or institute was unable or unwilling to make arrangements necessary to carry out the research. Second: is the cooperation of a single unit sufficient for your needs?
|
From page 87... ...
. Some universities and scholars are willing to bend SEDC rules, and the SEDC is likely to become more flexible in the future, but scholars hoping to conduct field research through a host unit under SEDC jurisdiction will want to assure themselves early that their proposed research and collaboration are possible.
|
From page 88... ...
Since the mid-1980s, in an effort to bring scientific research in China up to international standards, China has instituted several dozen "open labs." These promote horizontal mobility between research institutes under the CAS, scientists at universities under the SEDC, and ministries, and at least one foreign scientist sits on the governing board of each of the open labs. A fuller discussion of laboratory research appears later in this chapter.
|
From page 89... ...
THE RESEARCH PROPOSAL After finding an appropriate host, you will usually be expected to submit a detailed research proposal outlining the purpose of your research, specifying how the research will be conducted, and stating what you expect to accomplish, who will be involved, and what types of collaboration, cooperation, and training can be expected. Virtually every field researcher working through formal channels has stressed the importance of the proposal, because after the Chinese agree to it, the proposal will become, in effect, a contract from which deviation will require further negotiation.
|
From page 90... ...
Chinese research institutions ordinarily cannot afford to pay the additional costs of field research. These costs thus should be worked into the budget of the funding proposal to the NSF or any other institution operating under a similar agreement.
|
From page 91... ...
Specific types of fees will be discussed in the sections on archival research, laboratory research, and fieldwork. The most common are affiliation fees for more advanced scholars and either affiliation fees or tuition for dissertation-level graduate students.
|
From page 92... ...
Direct inspection of a local archive is likely to yield considerable deviation from expectations.4 4Beatrice Bartlett, "The Number Three Archives of China: The Liaoning Provincial Archives." China Exchange News, Fall-Winter 1991, pp.
|
From page 93... ...
Foreign scholars have used only a fraction of China's holdings, but each year a few researchers begin work in previously unexplored collections. Scholars who have done research in Chinese archives urge others planning to use archives to read the articles by Bartlett in the National Palace Museum Bulletin, as well as her book, Monarchs and Ministers: The Grand Council in Mid-Ch'ing China, 1723-1820, and the Fall/ Winter issue of China Exchange News, which is devoted to reports on archival research.
|
From page 94... ...
Some libraries, such as those at CASS's Institute of History and at Peking University, are open only to people who are directly affiliated with the institution. Scholars affiliated with research institutes often have difficulty obtaining permission to use university libraries and vice versa.
|
From page 95... ...
Students can usually negotiate smaller fees than senior scholars. One graduate student, for instance, was able to negotiate a fee of Y100 to use a rare books reading room for a year, while a senior scholar who came at the same time paid $US200 to use the same holdings for two-and-a-half months.
|
From page 96... ...
Some have continued to pay Chinese prices or a combination of Chinese prices for use and preservation and foreign prices for reproduction. For most scholars working in archives, duplicating costs are the most burdensome, and some have found it cheaper to hire an assistant to hand copy documents than to have them mechanically reproduced.
|
From page 97... ...
In view of the fact that the materials in all Chinese archives are magnificent, offering much to the scholar willing to search, patient submission to the rules while at the same time quietly attempting to negotiate improved terms is a worthwhile posture, likely eventually to produce desired results.6 FIELDWORK Fieldwork by U.S. scientists and social scientists has been a vital part of academic exchange with China and can be especially rewarding, but the bureaucratic procedures required to conduct fieldwork continue to puzzle potential researchers.
|
From page 98... ...
Scientists often find it easier to identify opportunities for field research in China than do social scientists. Many institutes within CAS operate field stations in various parts of the country, and many stations welcome cooperative projects with foreign scholars.
|
From page 99... ...
Today, social scientists are conducting field research on a wide array of topics, including China's "floating population," the development of the stock market, enterprise management, linguistics, and local administration. The ingredients for successful research in China described in the previous section formal institutional affiliation, guanxi, and mutual benefit apply equally to fieldwork.
|
From page 100... ...
In addition to affiliation fees mentioned earlier, field researchers may be asked to pay additional administrative costs (guanlifei) as compensation for arrangements made on behalf of the project, work compensation fees (laowuiei)
|
From page 101... ...
This is difficult. Many Chinese collaborators will be reluctant to discuss finances with you.
|
From page 102... ...
Unless you have already developed personal friendships with local officials, they will expect compensation for making your research possible, for seeing that you are properly housed and fed, and for ensuring that local people will be cooperative. THE RESEARCH TEAM If you rely on a host organization to get to the field, a complicated cast of characters is likely to be involved administrators from the host organization, Chinese collaborators, research assistants and interpreters, local officials, drivers, and local residents.
|
From page 103... ...
Most American field researchers work with Chinese collaborators, although some social scientists prefer to work independently. Collaboration with Chinese colleagues has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the exchange relationship.
|
From page 104... ...
While serving as your translator, the interpreter remains an employee of your host organization and is often junior to your Chinese collaborators. While you may become friends, his first responsibility is to his superiors in his own work unit.
|
From page 105... ...
Field researchers whose work requires traveling from place to place are often treated like VIPs. The presence of foreigners is an opportunity for local officials to throw an expensive banquet, and face is gained through concrete and longlasting evidence of the foreigner's visit in the form of numerous photographs.
|
From page 106... ...
, ~ Local people in out-of-the-way places may have little or no experience with foreigners. You may be the first to have visited in decades and hence the only foreigner most people in your area will have seen.
|
From page 107... ...
In recent years, many foreign scholars have conducted research in ethnic minority areas, and anthropological research may be easier to arrange there than in Han regions. Scholars contemplating research in ethnic minority areas should read the summer 1991 issue of China Exchange News, which is devoted to an examination of anthropology and ethnology in China.
|
From page 108... ...
108 CHINA BOUND A.T. Steegman writes: "A.
|
From page 109... ...
Anyone contemplating survey research in China should read the articles in the spring 1993 edition of China Exchange News. Many of the scholars whose research is described there are happy to share their insights with others contemplating similar research.
|
From page 110... ...
Those administered by provinces, cities, and localities, which have fewer funds, tend not to be as good, and some field stations are sorely lacking in basic equipment. Laboratories that have hosted foreign scholars—or have foreign scholars on their advisory boardsare often particularly well-equipped.
|
From page 111... ...
Many scientists spend several months conducting research at one site followed by short visits to other labs for collaborative exchanges, lectures, and training workshops. Offer to arrange for Chinese collaborators to come to the United States for research and provide opportunities for graduate students to study.
|
From page 112... ...
If you make arrangements on your own and stay in a relatively inexpensive hotel, you will save money. SHORT-TERM ACADEMIC VISITS Many people contemplating a longer-term research project in China find that a short-term visit to meet Chinese colleagues, visit different research institutes and universities, and, usually, to lecture is a necessary and valuable means of meeting potential collaborators and beginning to formulate a research plan.
|
From page 113... ...
Even with elaborate advance preparations, fine-tuning of the schedule will occur after your arrival, in consultation with colleagues from the host unit and the foreign affairs officer in charge of your visit. This is the time to point out any potential problems.
|
From page 114... ...
ACADEMIC CONFERENCES China hosts many international academic conferences each year, providing excellent opportunities for Western and Chinese scholars to make new contacts and become more familiar with ongoing research in their fields. Scholars considering attending a conference in China should be clear on the following questions: 1.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.