Methodology of Boyuan Foundation

The basic essence of academic methods is to follow norms and pay attention to evidence.

The normative research method can be expressed as an analytical framework, which includes: determining the research problems and objectives, defining the initial state and constraints, setting assumptions, finding the relevant factors affecting the research object and their interaction, selecting the optimal results and making corresponding institutional arrangements. Standardizing research methods is also a deductive process of internal logical consistency.

Empirical research summarizes the regularity (such as regression analysis or mathematical statistics) by observing and processing the changes of the research object in reality. Different from normative research, empirical research does not presuppose assumptions, assumptions may be distorted by information noise, and deviations of assumptions or conclusions may be found in normative research. In this case, it can be regarded as a supplement and amendment to the study of norms. If there are too many influencing factors, it is difficult to define and give up, and it is impossible to establish a standardized analytical framework, it is necessary to rely on empirical research. In this case, it can be regarded as a substitute for normative research. Whether it is supplement, revision or substitution, empirical research, as an important and indispensable research method in academic research, has received more recognition and attention in recent years.

In methodology, we should also abandon some wrong habitual thinking.

The first is "determinism" and "principal contradiction". Contradictory parties are a state-dependent relationship, which restricts and depends on each other in the interaction, and the state change of either party will inevitably affect the other party. It is only a temporary phenomenon that one party dominates or decides the other under certain conditions, and the opposite may happen when conditions change. "Economic determinism" and "technological determinism" are typical determinism, and their influence is not only reflected in academic research, but also in thoughts and policies. For example, if modernization replaces modernity, science is valued over humanities, and the government takes economic construction as the center.

The principal contradiction theory is also a kind of determinism. In general, the existence and change of anything is influenced and restricted by many other factors, which constitutes a multi-element interactive system. The theory of contradiction between subject and nature simply regards the relationship between things as a "causal chain" in which one link determines another. Under the guidance of this way of thinking, it is bound to lose sight of one thing and pay the price of worsening many factors in order to improve one factor. Only by establishing an analysis framework and grasping the interaction between various factors can we find the optimal or lowest-cost solution.

The second is "advocating the ideal model". The goal of the study is not to construct an ideal model through "grand narrative" because it does not exist in reality; Nor is it a simple model of transplanting others, because without human and cultural factors, any system is difficult to establish and operate. This is a fact. The goal of research should be to seek a better alternative than the actual institutional arrangement. In this sense, the so-called superiority and goodness are not without defects and costs, but without alternatives. At present, the imbalance and overheating in China's economic development is a problem that needs to be adjusted and improved. The background of this problem is the combination of consumption demand provided by economic globalization and employment supply provided by urbanization in China. This pattern and trend will exist for a long time. Without this background, it is unrealistic to try to solve the imbalance by increasing domestic consumption. Rational choice should be to reduce the cost of imbalance, not to seek an ideal balance.

Social change is a process of path dependence and institutional innovation under the constraints of external environment and internal conditions. If you want to know where China is going, you must know where China is from. Only when the research on social transformation in China is based on this shore and reveals the political, economic, cultural system and interest structure under the social form can we establish the other shore and find the way to connect tradition with the future.