Doing Fieldwork in China: 1 (NIAS Reference Library) - Softcover

Maria Heimer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8791114977 ISBN 13: 9788791114977

Publisher: NIAS Press, 2005

Synopsis

Doing fieldwork inside the PRC is an eye-opening but sometimes also deeply frustrating experience. Fieldwork-based studies form the foundation for our understanding of Chinese politics and society, but there are conspicuously few detailed descriptions in the China literature of how people actually do their fieldwork, and of the problems they encounter. This lack of public methodological debate not only undermines academic standards of openness: it also stalls constructive discussion on coping strategies to shared problems, and it leaves graduate students going to the field for the first time with a feeling of being the only ones to encounter difficulties. In this volume scholars from around the world reflect on their own fieldwork practice in order to give practical advice and discuss more general theoretical points. The contributors come from a wide range of disciplines such as political science, anthropology, economics, media studies, history, cultural geography, and sinology. The book also contains an extensive bibliography. This work is of relevance to post-graduate students from the social sciences and humanities who plan to do fieldwork in China; to experienced scholars who are new to the China field; and to experienced China scholars with an interest in methodological issues.

About this title

About the Author

Stig Thogersen is Professor of East Asian Studies, Aarhus University, Denmark. He has done much fieldwork and published widely on issues related to education in China. Maria Heimer, who completed her PhD dissertation based on fieldwork in China quite recently, is an assistant professor at the Department of Political Science, Uppsala University, Sweden.

Edition details

• Publisher: NIAS Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 8791114977
• ISBN 13: 9788791114977
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304
• Editor: Maria Heimer, Stig Thogersen