论区域比较作为方法及其在自杀研究中的应用

An Analysis of R egional Comparison as a Methodology and Its Application to Suicide Research

囿于与迪尔凯姆研究西方社会自杀现象完全不同的研究条件,要理解中国农村自杀现象乃至整个中国巨型社会,决定了研究者主要应以村庄作为基本的田野单位而展开研究。单个村庄如何代表整个中国社会困扰了中国学者一百多年。从学术脉络来看,从社区研究到类型比较,再从类型比较到区域研究乃至到区域比较研究的学术实践表明,村庄与区域之间可以是一条近似连续而非完全断裂的谱系。以村庄作为基础的区域比较研究可以尽可能地克服所谓代表性的问题,从而尽可能地理解中国农村自杀现象的空间差异。在区域比较作为研究方法的关照下,本文尝试性地就南方区域农村、北方区域农村与中部区域农村的农民自杀现象的差异性进行了初步的分析和讨论。

Durkheim ’s model for the study of suicide in Western society does not apply to the research situation in China. In order to understand suicidal behavior in rural China,and the mega Chinese society,the individual village is the preferred unit for fieldwork,but the issue of generalizability of any individual village to Chinese society as a whole has perplexed Chinese academia for more than 100 years. From community study to type comparison, from type comparison to regional study, and even to comparative study on different regions, the academic genealogy is continuous rather than interrupted. Therefore,the comparative regional studies based on examining individual villages can solve the issue of generalizability to a certain extent and improve understanding of the special differences in suicidal behavior. Adopting regional comparison as a methodology,this study compares suicidal behavior in South China,North China and the Central China,and some preliminary conclusions have been drawn.