SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
1
SoSc Life
RPG Newsletter
Issue 1. Fall, 2011
DIVISION OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, THE HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
From PG Coordinator
by Professor Xiaogang WU
“SoSc Life: RPG Newsletter” is now
published on a regular basis in the
end of each semester (January and
July). The Newsletter provides a
platform for RPG students to share
their research achievement and
learning experience and to improve
the communications with faculty
members and Division administrators. It is also a part of our efforts to
strengthen the graduate training
program in social science and to build
up a sense of belongings. The
newsletter is of the PGs, by the PGs,
and for the PGs.
The Division of Social Science
currently enrolls 15 PhD students and
26 MPhil students. We offer one of
the best training programs in the
region for students who are
interested in social science research.
Many of our PhD graduates are now
holding academic positions at
Academia Sinica (Taiwan),
Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, Peking
University, Fudan University, Renmin
University, Sun Yat-Sen University, the
National University of Singapore, LaTrobe
University (Australia). Many of our MPhil
students have been able to continue their
PhD study in top research universities like
Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, UCLA,
University of Toronto, and among others.
I have been serving on the PG committee
and watching the growth of our graduate
student training program since I came to
UST in 2003. As a PG committee member, I
once had a chance to read students’ files,
interview and recruit them, get to know
almost everybody as the instructor of the
two required courses (SOSC509 and
SOSC534). As a junior faculty then, I could
easily mix with them, many of whom I still
maintain contact with now. They told me
that learning in a dynamic environment and
living on a beautiful campus have become
their memorable life experience.
RESEARCH STUDENT NEWSLETTER
In this Issue
A. Achievement and progress (p2)
Selected publications
Conference presentations
Alumni news
B. Oversea Exchange Experiences
Hua YE (p3);
Zhiming SHENG (p4) ;
Guangye HE (p5);
C. Other Research Opportunities (p5)
D. Students (p6)
E. Student Life (p7)
As graduate students, you may come
and go, and HKUST is only one stop of
your long career journey. As an
institution without much tradition, what
you have achieved and experienced here,
to be recorded in the Newsletter, will
soon become a part of our assets and
history to benefit to those who follow
your steps and assist our RPG program in
reaching the next level of excellence.
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
2
A. Achievement and Progress (2010-2011)
Publications in 2011
KUNG, James and Shuo CHEN. 2011. “The
Tragedy of the Nomenclature: Career Incentives
and Political Radicalism during China’s Great
Leap Famine.” American Political Science Review
105 (1): 27-45
KUNG,
James
and
Nan
LI.
2011.
"Commercialization as Exogenous Shock: The
Welfare Consequence of Soybean Cultivation in
Manchurian China, 1895-1934." Explorations in
Economic History 46(4): 568-589.
ZHANG, Zhuoni and Xiaogang WU. 2011.
"Social Change, Cohort Quality, and Economic
Adaptation of Chinese Immigrants in Hong
Kong, 1991-2006.” Asian and Pacific Migration
Journal 20(1):1-29.
陈硕，2011， 《1959～1961 年中国饥荒：
回顾及启示》，《世界经济》第 4 期。
李骏，顾燕峰，2011，《中国城市劳动力市场
中的户籍分层》，《社会学研究》第 2 期。
叶华，吴晓刚，2011，《生育率下降与中国男
女教育的平等化趋势》，《社会学研究》第 5
期。
Publications in 2010
LI, Nan, Zhen QIAO. 2010. “Did the
Restructuring Program Save China’s Stateowned Enterprises?” China Economist No 27.
Conference Presentations
CAI, Yongshun and Zhiming SHENG, "Leaders
with Mixed Motivations: Homeowners’ Activism
in Beijing," paper presented at the Annual
Meeting of the Association for Asian Studies,
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, April, 2011.
DONG, Hao, Dan XU, Cameron Campbell and
James LEE. "Comparing Chinese and Korean
Panel data from Historical Population
Registers," paper presented at the conference
"Migration Responses to Long- and Short-term
Change in Historical East Asia", in California
Center for Population Research, UCLA, Los
Angeles, USA, August, 2011.
WEN, Fangqi and Raymond WONG, “Work
Devaluation or Specialized Training? Revisiting
the Effect of Occupational Sex Segregation on
Earnings in Hong Kong, 1981-2006,” paper
presented at the annual meeting of North
American Chinese Sociologist Association in
Las Vegas, USA, August, 2011.
WONG, Kevin Tze-wai. 2010. "The Emergence of
Class Cleavage in Taiwan in the Twenty-First
Century: The Impact of Cross-Strait Economic
Integration." Issues and Studies 46 (2):pp. 127-172.
WU, Xiaogang and Zhuoni ZHANG. 2010.
“Changes in Educational Inequality in China, 19902005: Evidence from the Population Census Data.”
Research in Sociology of Education 17:123-152.
陈硕，2010，《分税制改革，地方财政自主权
与公共品供给》，《经济学季刊》第 4 期。
曹樹基，蔣勤，2010，《石倉冶鐵業中所見清
代浙南鄉村工業與市場》，《中央研究院歷史
語言研究所集刊》第 81 本第 4 分。
曹树基，李楠，龚启圣，2010,《“残缺产权”
之 转 让 ： 石 仓 “ 退 契 ” 研 究 （ 1728 —
1949）》，《历史研究》第 3 期。
张卓妮、吴晓刚，2010，《农村劳动力迁
移与中国工资收入不平等的地区差异：来
自 2005 年全国人口抽样调查的证据》，
《人口与发展》第 1 期。
2012 New Paper
梁晨、张浩、李兰、阮丹青、康文林、
杨善华、李中清，2012，《无声的革命：
北京大学与苏州大学学生社会来源研究，
1952-2002》，《中国社会科学》第 1 期。
译著：吴晓刚教授主编的《格致方法·定
量研究系列》丛书 2011 年 8 月由格致出版
社 （ 上 海 ） 出 版 。社 科 部 研究 生 蒋 勤 、
李骏、盛智明、叶华、张卓妮、郑冰岛、
贺光烨、李兰、林毓玲、肖东亮、
辛济云、於嘉、余珊珊、宋曦参与翻译。
李楠, 2010，《铁路发展与移民研究：来自东北
地区历史自然实验（1895-1935）》，《中国人
口科学》第 4 期。
李 楠 ， 2010 ， 《 国 有 企 业 改 制 绩 效 的 实 证 分
析：基于双重差分模型的考察》，《数量经济
与技术经济研究》第 2 期。
吴晓刚, 宋曦，2010，《中国劳动力市场中的民
族分层： 对新疆维吾尔自治区 (2005) 的实证研
究》，《中国社会科学（内刊）》第 6 期。
WU, Xiaogang, Hua YE and Guangye HE.
“Fertility Decline and Gender Inequality in China,”
paper presented by Hua YE at the Fertility &
Empowerment (F&E) Network workshop in
Washington, D.C., USA, October, 2011.
(Yucheng LIANG, Associate Professor, Sun YatSen University, School of Sociology and
Anthropology, PhD 2007）
孙秀林，2011，《华南的村治与宗族——一
个功能主义的分析路径》，《社会学研究》
YE, Hua. “Key-point Schools and Entry into 第 1 期。(Associate Professor，Department of
College in China,” paper presented at the annual Sociology, Shanghai University, PhD 2007）
meeting of North American Chinese Sociologist
Association in Las Vegas, USA, August, 2011.
LIN, Thung-hong. “Governing Disaster:
Political Institution, Social Inequality and
Alumni News (2011)
Human Vulnerability”, paper presented at 2011
Annual Meeting of American Sociological
HUANG, Xianbi and Mark Western. 2011. "Social
Association, Las Vegas, USA, August, 2011.
Networks and Occupational Attainment in
(Assistant Research Fellow, Institute of
Australia", Sociology 45(2): 269-286. (Xianbi
Sociology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, PhD
HUANG, School of Social Sciences, LaTrobe
2008)
University, Australia, PhD 2005).
李煜，2011，《婚姻匹配的变迁：社会开放性
的视角》，《社会学研究》第 4 期。(Associate
Research Fellow, Institute of Sociology, Shanghai
Academy of Social Science, PhD 2006)
梁玉成，2011，《追踪调查中的追踪成功率研
究——社会转型条件下的追踪损耗规律和建
议》，《社会学研究》第 6 期。
林宗弘等, 2011，《崩世代：財團化，貧窮化
與少子女化的危機》，台灣勞工陣線協會。
韩冬临，崔大伟，2011，《国际移民的跨国
联系——基于留日海归的实证研究》，《国
际观察》第 5 期。(Donglin HAN, Assistant
Professor, School of International Studies，
Renmin University of China, PhD 2009）
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
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B. Oversea Exchange
Experiences
My Experience at the
University of Michigan
by Hua YE
Thanks to the HKUST Overseas
Research Awards, I am currently
spending about 5 months as a visiting
research student at the Population
Studies Center (PSC) at the University
of Michigan. Thanks also to Prof. Yu Xie,
who is my sponsor at the University of
Michigan, I have access to research
facilities here, including office space,
computing facilities, the library and
internet resources.
I have been attending two courses at the
University of Michigan: Quantitative
Methods I by Yu Xie at the Department
of Sociology, and Labor Economics I by
Mel Stephens and John Bound at the
Department of Economics. I am also a
regular member of the Quantitative
Sociology
Workshop,
and
have
participated in various seminars, e.g.,
the QMP Methodology Seminar, the
PSC Seminar, the PSID/CDS Seminar,
the PSC/SRC Seminar, and the CCS
Noon Lecture Series (interested parties
may search the internet for information
on these seminars). I have presented
some of my current research in classes
and group meetings, and have received
helpful comments and suggestions from
the audience. In addition to my
dissertation research and cooperative
projects with Prof. Xiaogang Wu, I am
also working on two new research
projects with Yu Xie.
The most important experience here is
exposure to more diverse research
topics. Our division has a strong
research unit on studies of Chinese
societies. I have benefited greatly from
discussions with fellow students and the
faculty, and I am often impressed by
their deep understanding of Chinese
societies. In contrast, I have learned
much more here about different
perspectives and approaches.
The PSC is one of five centers at the
Institute of Social Research (ISR); the
other four are the Survey Research
Center (SRC), the Inter-university
Consortium for Political and Social
Research (ICPSR), the Research Center
for Group Dynamics, and the Center for
Political Studies. ISR is a large research
community
of
inter-disciplinary
researchers, including sociologists,
economists,
demographers,
public
health researchers, statisticians, and
psychologists. Some of the faculty
members know a great deal about data
collection (Panel Study of Income
Dynamics and its Child Development
Supplement, and Health and Retirement
Study are collected by SRC and ISR);
many of them are methodologically
sophisticated and, most importantly,
they emphasize research designs and
often offer intuitive suggestions to
students/faculty here who encounter
methodological difficulties. It is an
enjoyable experience to attend their
seminars. Even when I am not the
person to whom suggestions are
offered, insightful thoughts sparkle
during scholarly exchanges.
I have also learned more about research
on other countries, especially on US
society, and have been thinking about
the possibility of similar research
projects on China. Exposure to studies of
other societies enables me to look
beyond Greater China when thinking
about existing research findings. China is
not that unique once we embrace a
comparative perspective; what is
happening in China may have happened
in earlier days in other countries, or is
happening now in other countries. Even
if China has its own uniqueness, we need
to situate our findings in a comparative
context where we can dialogue with
scholars working on other countries. To
accomplish this, we need to know more
about what others have done in different
settings, and this will be one of the
imperatives for my future studies.
I appreciate having been offered the
opportunity to be here, and I look
forward to sharing my thoughts with
fellow students in our division.
YE, HUA
PhD candidate
University of Michigan , 24 August,
2011 to 5 January, 2012
Tip: Our division supports one PhD
student each year to undertake
exchange to an overseas research
institute / university for one semester
after passing PhD qualifying exam.
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
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Bridging the Quantitative and Qualitative
Research Method in CQRM
by Zhiming SHENG
From June 13 to 24, 2011, I was honored
to be nominated by our division to
participate in the Consortium on
Qualitative Research Methods (CQRM)
co-hosted by the Institute for Qualitative
and Multi-Method Research at the
Maxwell School of Syracuse University.
The CQRM is known as the best
workshop on qualitative and multimethod research in the USA, and even
the world. It seeks to enable students to
create and critique methodologically
sophisticated
qualitative
research
designs. It explores the techniques, uses,
strengths, and limitations of these
methods, while emphasizing their
relationships with alternative approaches. Topics include research design,
concept
formation,
methods
of
structured and focused comparisons of
cases, typological theory, case selection,
process tracing, comparative historical
analysis, congruence testing, path
dependency, interpretivism, counterfactual analysis, interview and field
research (including archival) techniques,
necessary and sufficient conditions,
fuzzy set methods, natural experiment
and philosophy of science issues
relevant to qualitative research.
The workshop was organized into three
types of institute sessions: (1) unified
(whole institute) classes; (2) research
design discussion groups; and (3)
elective modules for different research
methods.
The
research
design
discussion groups were held for two
hours on most mornings at the institute.
Every attendee was assigned to one
discussion group (which was formed
based on similar research topics) to
present his/her research proposal and
receive constructive feed-back on their
own research designs from discussion
group members and the instructor of
that group (who was a guest professor of
the institute).
Although the workshop was very
intensive, I benefited from it greatly.
First, I discovered and learned recently
developed cutting-edge qualitative
research methods; second, I received
some
valuable
suggestions
and
comments on my research proposal for
my PhD dissertation; third, I met many
brilliant professors and students from
top universities, and communicating
with them gave me many inspiring and
intuitive ideas; and fourth, I connected
with some professors and students who
share similar research interests with me,
and this kind of academic community is
helpful for my future study.
SHENG, ZHIMING
PhD Candidate
Syracuse University, June 13-24, 2011
Tip: Our division supports one research
student each year to attend this two-week
workshop at Syracuse University, USA.
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
Life at UCLA
by Gloria HE
Thanks to this newly established graduate
exchange program and the sponsorship of
Prof. Cameron Campbell and Prof. Rob
Mare, I was fortunate to be an exchange
student at UCLA for half a year.
In contrast to HKUST, UCLA uses a
quarter rather than a semester system,
which is far more fast-paced and
challenging. Half a year is one semester in
Hong Kong, but is two quarters there,
which means that the workload is almost
doubled.
For these two quarters, I joined the
California Center for Population Research
(CCPR), and participated in various
seminars. I also enrolled for and attended several courses (i.e., introductory of
demography, neighborhood effect, and
statistical methods), in which I finished
two working papers, one of which was
presented at the North American Chinese
Sociologist Association (NACSA) in
August in Las Vegas.
5
This exchange experience
has had a great impact on
me, academically as well
as emotionally. If you
were to ask me: “What’s
the most important thing
you learned from it?” I
would say “People really
have got a lot of
potential.”
This half a year in LA has
already become part of
my
most
important
memories. We outgrow
things and memories
usually fade. Yet the really important
experiences stay in our hearts and we
never forget.
HE, GUANGYE (GLORIA)
MPhil year two
UCLA, February to July, 2011
Tip: MPhil students can apply for exchange to
UCLA or the University of Virginia for one
semester.
C. Other Research Opportunities
A. Conference Funding increased
B. Call for Application: PhD Exchange
Goods News to PhD students and Postdocs to attend conferences:
Existing PhD student, after the qualifying
exam, can apply for Oversee Research
Award to spend one semester in a US
university to undertake research projects
related to their dissertation. The deadline
is Feb 29. For more information, contact
PG coordinator, Professor Xiaogang WU.
The Senate Research Committee has
approved the new RTG policy. The new
policy is effective now and will apply to
the December around of application 2011.
1. PhD students are eligible to receive
support at most three times during their
program of study. The restriction that
prevents students from applying more
than once every two years has been
removed.
2. For postdocs, transportation expenses,
conference registration fees and/or per
diem up to a maximum amount of $8,000
are
supported.
More
research
opportunities
can
be
found
in
http://webhost1.ust.hk/~webocga/resopp/
web/hk/php/local.php
C. Future Conferences
1. The next Annual Meeting of American
Economic Association is scheduled for
January 4-6, 2013 in San Diego, CA, USA.
2. The Annual Meeting of American
Sociological Association is scheduled in
August 17-20, 2012 in Denver, CO, USA.
3. The Annual Meeting of American
Political Science Association is scheduled
in August 30-September 2, 2012 in New
Orleans, LA, USA.
4. The 70th Midwest Political Science
Association (MPSA) Conference is
scheduled in April 12-15, 2012 in Chicago,
IL, USA.
5. The Annual Meeting of Population
Association of America is scheduled in
May 3-5 in San Francisco, CA, USA.
6. The Annual Meeting of Association for
Asian Studies is scheduled in March 15 –
18, 2012 in Toronto, Canada.
7. The Spring meeting of the Research
Committee on Social Stratification and
Mobility (RC28) of the International
Sociological Association (ISA) will be held
at The Chinese University of Hong Kong,
Hong Kong SAR, China, from May 10-13,
2012. The theme of the conference is:
Economic Transformation and Social
Stratification in Comparative Perspectives. The conference is cosponsored by
the Center for Applied Social and
Economic
Research,
HKUST
and
Department of Sociology, CUHK. For
more information, visit http://rc28.ust.hk.
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
D. Students
6
Graduates in the summer 2011
Graduates and New RPGs
1. PhD graduates this year (5):
Shuo CHEN, Bing LI, Nan LI, Chicheng
MA, Zhuoni ZHANG
2. MPhil graduates this year (11)
Among the 11 MPhil students who
graduated in the summer of 2011, six
took jobs either in Hong Kong or
mainland China, four enrolled in our
division’s PhD program (Ting CHEN, Jia
YU, Jing ZENG, Titi ZHOU), and one
enrolled in a PhD program in the USA
(Qian WANG). Jia YU received the Hong
Kong PhD fellowship.
Dr. Chicheng MA; Dr. Nan LI; Dr. Shuo CHEN
3. New MPhil Students (10)
There are 10 MPhil students enrolled in
our division in this semester.
PRESENT RPG STUDENT NUMBER
MPhil: Dongliang XIAO; Jia YU; Jiyun XIN; Jing ZENG
15
PhD students
26
MPhil students
Dr. Bing LI; Dr. Nan LI; Dr. Zhuoni ZHANG;
Dr. Chicheng MA; Dr. Shuo CHEN
SOSC LIFE | Issue 1
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OPEN DAY
E. Student Life
by Qin JIANG (TA Coordinator of SOSC)
The department activity this fall
semester was a pizza gathering
following the open day on September
25. On September 24 and 25, about 15
RPG students offered their help at the
division’s counter.
COMING SOON……
The New Choi Yuen Village
The original plan was to organize a BBQ
gathering for all the RPGs in our division.
Unfortunately, the heavy rain forced us
to change the plan. Thanks to our
division’s financial support, and with the
help of Ting CHEN and others, we finally
organized a Pizza gathering in our PG
office. There were 26 participants in
total, including eight new MPhil, seven
year-two MPhil, six PhD students, and
three Alumni. Our Acting Head, Prof.
Yik, also attended the gathering. The
senior and new RPGs got to know each
other and everybody had a good time
that night.
Territories in April, 2012. Wetland Park is
a perfect site to appreciate the beauty of
Hong Kong nature, especial in Spring,
and the New Choi Yuen village is famous
for its resistance to the Express Railway
in Hong Kong over the past two years.
Visiting this village can enrich our
knowledge about Hong Kong Society.
B.Fishing trip in June
The MSSS (Mainland Student and
Scholar Society) will organize a fishing
trip near HKUST in June.
SoSc Life
Consultant Editor:
Prof Xiaogang WU
Editors:
Qin JIANG (PhD Candidate)
Forthcoming TA Activities in
the Spring Semester
Duoduo XU (MPhil year 1)
A. Field trip to New Territories in April
Special thanks to Prof Michelle YIK,
Vicky LAI and Wendy TSANG for their
help.
Supported by SAO’s Graduate Student
Life Fund, we plan to lead a field trip to
the Hong Kong Wetland Park and also
the New Choi Yuen Village in the New
Thank Guangye HE for designing the
logo and Fangqi WEN, Jiyun XIN, Nan LI
for sharing their photos.