The Study of China in Universities: A Comparative Case Study of A ...

1.2. Organization of the Book

This book consists of three parts and a conclusion. Part I contains three chapters. Chapter 1 is an introduction with a brief background to the study to illustrate the nature of the research problem. Chapter 2 is the background study, which locates the theoretical frameworks employed. In this chapter, I first discuss the sociology of knowledge which provides the theoretical foundations that underpin the forming of the research questions and research design. The second section of this chapter states the points of departure of this research and the assumptions that are adopted to underpin the investigation process. This is followed by the literature review on approaches to comparative studies from where the basis of the comparison is derived. Chapter 3 highlights the current debate on higher education in the United Kingdom and in Australia. The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the problems facing higher education in order to give a contextual background of where the programs of Chinese studies are located.

Part II is the Methodology section. There are two chapters in this section—chapter 4 and chapter 5. Chapter 4 covers the research design and the justifications for its adoption. Chapter 5 gives further explanations on how the research strategies, outlined in chapter 4, were used in data collection and what issues confronted me in the process. Chapter 5 also includes a discussion on the orientation of data analysis, which leads to part III—Findings and Discussions. Since the research methods adopted here are ethnographical and qualitative in nature, the detailed description of the process is an integral part of this research process. It is intended to allow readers to participate in my journey of inquiry.

There are four chapters in part III. Chapter 6 describes the findings on the historical contexts of the study of China in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In order to understand the sociological relationships between an individual and an educational institution, it is essential to appreciate the historical implications in such relations. Investigating the history of Chinese studies in each country provides a landscape of the scholar-ship of sinology that not only reflects the sociological development of the scholarship but also provides a contextual background on how the study of China is approached historically in the two countries.