社区研究中的田野精神——以费孝通早期实地研究为例

Field Spirit in Community Research——Taking Fei Xiaotong’s Early Field Research as an Example

费孝通的早期社会思想中蕴含着值得今天社区研究借鉴的“田野精神”。费孝通在刚踏入社会学界时就坚持进入实地、求得真知的学术旨趣,在田野调查中重视“活”的社会文化,他还坚持保护社会、肩负为救中国而研究的使命感。在实地研究中,他与被研究者之间构建了良好的社会关系,即坦诚相对,具体包括设身处地、将心比心两方面意涵。这一调查关系,易祛除研究者的“我执”,增进对社会的科学认识。费孝通还得出了社会研究中一种文化上的设身处地的观点,这便是“体悉欣赏”,从而建立调查者与被调查者之间平等、互相尊重的文化关系,可见费孝通很早就走出了文野之别。其田野调查的理论基础是马林诺斯基的功能论和芝加哥学派的人文区位学,他在实地研究中有机融合了二者,并提供了一种整全的定性研究方法论。

Fei Xiaotong’s early social thought contains “field spirit”, which is meaningful for today’s community research. When Fei Xiaotong started study of sociology, he insisted on entering the field and seeking true knowledge, and paid attention to the “living” social culture in his fieldwork. He also insists on protecting society and shoulders the mission of studying to save China. In the field research, he built a good social relationship with the subjects. In this investigation, the researcher’s “ego” is eliminated to enhance the scientific understanding of society. Fei Xiaotong also came up with a cultural perspective in social research, which is “appreciation”, so as to establish an equal and mutually respectful cultural relationship between investigators and respondents. The theoretical basis of his fieldwork is Malinowski’s functional theory and Chicago School’s human ecology. He integrates the two theories organically in his field research and provides an integrated qualitative research methodology.