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2012年2月 月次レポート（楊殿閣 アメリカ）
Location: Columbia University
Time: February, 2012
Name: Denka Yanagi
ITP Monthly Report
"I believe that education is the fundamental method of social progress and reform" this is a quote by John Dewey which is written on a wall behind the entrance of Teachers College. But on the other side of the coin, the paradox of Dewey's idea is that the dynamics of market fundamentalism in the global society seem to change the formation of education. Globalization continues to spread the power of market mechanism at every corner and sector of the world. The educ
ation sector in contemporary China is one such example; the education reform policy has been oriented by the economy structure reform. During the past 30 years, many social reforms including education reform have been implemented in order to adapt the market economy to economic growth in China. However these public policies also bring many negative impacts such as a widened income gap, inequality, environmental devastation, and moral hazard. Whenever I enter the Teachers College, the wall with Dewey's words reminds me that it is too risky to ignore the long-term effect of education. It also encourages me to challenge social research, to think about how educational ideas have been reflected in policy making and how educational policy has influenced social change in China or in other countries.
On the second week of this month, Dr. Okada visited New York and met with Professor Yang at Columbia University. These two supervisors gave me a lot of advice for my research. During Dr. Okada's visit, we talked about how my studies here can contribute to my PhD dissertation when I return to Tokyo, and about my long-term schedule. He focused his advice on effective data selection. I can access a mountain of data sources with my Columbia ID. But considering the framework of my dissertation, I have to ignore data which is irrelevant. In this regard, his advice is very practical and helpful. Although there are large volumes of interesting academic resources I should try to focus on only the most significant arguments and evidence which potentially can be used in my own research.
Professor Yang has been supervising research methods by selected topics on social science research works on East Asia, rather than just China studies in this semester. He focuses on the basic concepts of social science theories and core sociological issues such as social institutions, social inequality, and social change. Under his instruction, I was able to review and use the concepts and methods of social science research and analysis. We conducted critical reviews of the scholarly literature, and he has given me advice on how to raise informed research questions, and how to formulate hypotheses with regard to the research questions. He has also taught me techniques on how to design research proposals to collect and analyze appropriate empirical or historical data for addressing specific research questions.
Interviewing is another important skill in my field research activity. As Professor Yang said, many developing countries such as China don't have the culture of interviewing people. Those who are living in these societies seldom talk about their personal and social lives to outsiders. They tend to be scared when they see a voice recorder or an interview agreement. It is very difficult to contact local people for research or to get real information which concerns their personal and social reality by interview. As a researcher, especially in my field work, I should keep in mind the ethics issue and take into consideration the targeted people's rights. I should also ensure that the work that I do takes into primary accounts the local contexts. But if the local society doesn't have an interview culture, it will be even more challenging. Professor Yang shared about his own interview experiences in China including some failed cases. Although it was a very short period of time I was able to learn many practical social research methods from him.