Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 12, 2021

Heart to Heart: On Fieldwork in Chinese Sociology

(Abstract)

Zhou Feizhou

Fieldwork is an important tool in sociological research and has played a central role in the history of sociology in China. Post-reconstruction sociological fieldwork has made an important contribution to uncovering China’s social fabric, revealing some of the key features of the modernization path with Chinese characteristics. The New Era requires sociological fieldwork to have a deeper grasp of the pulse of the times; we must sum up the developmental experience of fieldwork, advocate the carrying on and further development of Fei Xiaotong’s “heart to heart” fieldwork and promote the development of a sociology that focuses on the people.