Research methods of ethnosociology

From the perspective of knowledge structure, the methodological system of ethnosociology consists of three levels: the first level is methodological principle, which has the significance of guiding the research direction; The second level is the specific research method, which is unified with the research practice and process; The third level is technical means, which is the main tool used in the research process.

A discipline is based on the scientific knowledge system, which mainly depends on two aspects: first, the theory of the discipline, that is, the research or interpretation system of the research object composed of some core concepts; The second is scientific methodology, which refers to the way of thinking, means and technology adopted in the process from concept to explanation or annotation of the research object. Today, ethnosociology has become a relatively independent discipline with its own method system.

The research methodology principle of ethnosociology is the basic concept and law that determines the basic direction of researchers and affects the nature of research. Methodological principles usually include: philosophical world outlook and methodology, logical thinking method principle, and generalized theory of ethnic sociology.

Gao Yong's methodology of ethnosociology has three aspects:

1. Understanding and grasping the phenomenon of ethnic sociology-the guiding method of Marxism.

2. Analyze and explain national social phenomena-subject and object research, ethnocentrism culture and cultural relativism.

3. Discover and study ethnic social phenomena.

Method characteristics

Ethnological sociology cannot be simply regarded as the intersection and blending of ethnology and sociology. The sociological research method of ethnology is a unique way to understand the nation from the standpoint of sociology and the society from the perspective of nationality.

The basic characteristics of ethnosociological methods are embodied in the following three aspects:

First, dynamic. The standpoint and vision of sociology are dynamic, and he is concerned with the changing society, especially the dynamic process of various facts and relationships in the real society. To understand the state and society from the perspective of sociology is to examine this relationship in the dynamic process of social change and find its structural elements and changing laws.

Second, honesty. The knowledge and understanding of nationality and society in ethnosociology starts from the height of holism, and then analyzes the relationship and interaction between them from the latitude of systematic relationship within the whole. For example, to understand the society from the perspective of the nation, the nation is not simply regarded as a part of the social structure, but as a national society and nation-state. From this, we can understand that the nation is a social factor or society in the process of social operation and change.

Third, experience. Ethnic sociology pays attention to the investigation of the facts and reality of nationality and society, and on this basis, it expands the understanding of the relationship between nationality and society. In the whole research process, the first thing is to obtain empirical facts. Therefore, many research practices of ethnic sociology tend to use the method of investigation, starting with the phenomena in real society and understanding the dynamic process and relationship between ethnic groups and society according to empirical facts.

Two paradigms

The concept of paradigm was first put forward by Kuhn to express the general characteristics and laws of scientific research activities. The so-called paradigm refers to the norms, theories and methodological patterns that members of the same scientific research subject follow in the process of conventional scientific research in a certain period of time.

The paradigm of ethnosociology is not only a summary of the research history of this discipline, but also a norm, theory and method that its future development needs to learn from and constantly construct. From the perspective of discipline research history, the paradigm of ethnosociology can be summarized into two main types: Marxist ethnology and the study of ethnic relations in western sociology. These two main paradigms reflect that different researchers in the field of ethnic language and social research follow different theoretical traditions and methodological models, and their differences are mainly reflected in the understanding and understanding of the concept of nationality and the differences in research emphasis formed on this basis. Comparative Paradigm Types of Two Paradigms of Ethnic Sociology The key research methods to understand ethnic concepts and ethnic boundaries are characterized by objective social entities, objective and stable ethnic history, language, customs, physical characteristics, historicism and evolution of Marxist ethnology. The social attribute of subjective cognition, the stratification and mobility of subjective and relative ethnic groups, and the logical process of empirical research on ethnic interaction in western sociology.

According to Wallace's "scientific circle" principle, the logical process of research consists of several links, such as question, theory, hypothesis, operation and hypothesis test.

Five knowledge parts: theory; Hypothesis; Empirical observation; Experience summary; A tested hypothesis.

Six methods: logical deduction; Operation method; Methods of measurement, determination and analysis; Logical reasoning method; Methods of establishing induction, proposition and theory.

Interpretation of ethnosociology

Observing and discovering the theoretical problems of the relationship between nationality and society from experience, proving these theories with empirical materials and explaining the relationship between nationality and society with theories are the basic ideas of ethnic sociology research. In the study of ethnosociology, the theoretical explanations of ethnic phenomena in the social system mainly include: concepts and variables, assumptions, measurement and analysis of variables, and hypothesis testing.

Specific research stage

The specific research stage is a complete process of conducting a research, including the specific scheme of the research and the specific implementation procedures or steps of the research.

The first stage is to ask and define the problem. The specific research of ethnosociology always needs to answer some specific questions, so questions are the orientation and purpose of the research.

Questions generally follow the following basic principles. Problems must be guided by theory. This question had better have some practical significance. The questions raised must be feasible. The second stage is to review how others study the questions raised.

The third stage is research and design. Research design refers to the specific plan to collect, sort out, analyze and test the data involved in the research in order to answer the questions raised and realize the research purpose.

The fourth stage is to collect information.

The fifth stage is to sort out and analyze the data.

The sixth stage is to explain the new findings obtained from the data.

The seventh stage is to draw a conclusion.

The eighth stage is to publish and publish research results. In the final analysis, the research object of ethnosociology is people in society, people with different national identities. Social science, as a research discipline, is fundamentally different from natural science, which takes material or non-human as its research object. In the research practice of most natural sciences, there are no obvious ethical problems, but social sciences that study human beings in society will inevitably involve other people and the relationship between people. Therefore, researchers must consider the possible relationship rules in their research, that is, they must pay attention to the ethical issues in their research.

Generally speaking, the ethical issues that need to be paid attention to in ethnic sociology research mainly include privacy issues, taboo issues and political sensitivity issues.