飘摇的青春:在日中国“新”技术移民主观幸福感研究——基于定性比较分析的方法

Exploring the Determinants of Happiness for Immigrant Chinese Engineers in Japan——Evidence from Their Life Stories

本文以流动在中国和日本之间的中国"新"技术移民为研究对象,通过观察、记录与移民经历相关的生活故事,并运用定性比较分析的方法,对移民的主观幸福感进行探索性研究。我们从访谈数据中抽象出被解释变量:主观幸福感;解释变量:职业前景、婚姻状况、国内社会网络以及日本社会网络。通过定性比较分析发现,拥有较强的国内社会网络及日本社会网络都是解释移民主观幸福感的重要因素。在这一特殊的移民群体里,婚姻状况也是另一个决定中国"新"技术移民主观幸福感的关键因子。本研究还发现,掌握较多人力资本与社会资本的中国"新"技术移民的这种跨国界流动行为体现出更多的"过客"属性,而非"移民"属性。

This exploratory study aims to understand the integration of immigrant Chinese engineers based on their satisfaction with life in Japan and to understand the factors that explain it. Specifically, we explore the determinants of happiness associated with the migration experience. We present some preliminary findings from a qualitative study in which in-depth interview data from a small sample of immigrant Chinese engineers in Japan highlights a number of ideas that together form a sociological understanding of people's perceptions of and reflections on the idea of happiness. We then attempt to extrapolate 'the facts' from their life stories in order to construct a causal account that can explain the causes of happiness. First, we abstract four explanatory variables from the interview and the ethnographic data: job prospect, marital status, ties to the home society, and ties to the host society. We then work with life story data in a qualitative comparative analysis(QCA). The analysis results suggest that maintaining ties to both the host society and the home society are important factors for understanding these immigrants ' happiness. Marital status is another key factor associated with immigrants' happiness.