Social Sciences in China Review

No.1, 2020

Research on County Development and County Sociology: The Selection and Transition of Field Research Units in Sociology (Abstract)

Di Jinhua

Alongside national economic and social development, the role of the county in local economic and social development and the state governance system is gaining increasing importance. The present era challenges sociologists to understand the changes. They should respond by using the county as a field research unit that will enable them to grasp changes in the county economic development model and their impact on the development of the local industrial economy, urbanization structure, social structure, and popular custom, while at the same time examining the way “the trends of the times” and “local tradition” affect local economic and social development, bureaucratic operation and governance practices in institutional and social structures.