Post-Mao changes in a South China production brigade

Abstract

With the opening of possibilities for field work in China, we can anticipate a new stage in the systematic study of Chinese society. Previously, sociologists and anthropologists were limited in their quest for social data to refugee interviews, deciphering Chinese newspapers, and reports filed by visiting delegations and journalists. Although relatively sophisticated methods were developed by researchers to compensate the “data problem,” the field maintained a defensive stance when challenged on the reliability of its data.