Lizzy Duan

2 Responses to Lizzy Duan

1. Sangeetha Madhavan says:

   January 9, 2014 at 2:27 pm

   This paper reads more like an extended abstract so some of my questions may be answered in the longer version. Here are some issues/suggestions to consider:

   1) It is important to situate the findings on these two ethnic groups within the larger context of China so the reader (particularly non China specialists) can appreciate the extent of difference and similarity;

   2) There is little discussion of internal migration which I would imagine would greatly alter household composition and formation;

   3) The use of the term “formation” necessitates longitudinal data which is not used in the paper; at the least, the authors should acknowledge this limitation

   4) To make the paper more accessible to a wider audience, more is needed on justifying the focus on these two ethnic groups; why these two? what do we learn about larger socio-political processes in China from an examination of these groups?

   Hope these immediate thoughts are useful!!
   • Lizzy Duan says:

     January 10, 2014 at 4:25 am

     Hi Sangeetha, thanks for your comments.
     Yes you are right that I put this paper as a kind of extended abstract. As my original paper is around 15000 words and I’m only allowed to put 5000 here. Firstly I would like to apologize for the confusing in recomposing this conference paper. Secondly I’m happy to clarify the issues you mentioned.

     (1) This paper is one of my master research programs and I only got half year to do research design, fieldwork and also paper writing last year. So it’s kind of intensive and I only choose six villages to conduct this study, which is narrow to explore these two ethnic groups. I’m going to investigate these two ethnic groups within larger context in my further study.
     (2) Yes I do have a part to discuss internal migration in my original paper. My main focus of internal migration is how it affects the household composition (especially ‘skipped generation’). However, I haven’t examined its effect on formation. I will consider this issue as well in my further study.
     (3) I do did some tests using census data (1982, 1990, 2000) to see a general model and trend of family composition within these two ethnic groups in China. But in my research area, that’s also a pity for me that I haven’t obtained the longitudinal data. So when I investigated family formation, I divided into two parts: a. between ethnic groups, b. between villages in same ethnic group (that means holding religion, belief, culture constantly to examine economic effect). I tried to examine changes in household formation through the second part. Results can be found in the conference paper as well.
     (4) My research interest is Chinese ethnic minorities, especially their family and marriage. The reasons why I chose these two are as follows. Firstly, these two ethnic groups are likely to resident close to each other. From my opinion, if I would like to examine the differentials of culture effect on family and household between these two ethnic groups, it is good to put them in the same social-economic and political environment. Second, as a half-year research project, these two groups are easier for me to access, no matter quantitative or qualitative data.

     Thanks so much for your useful comments. Also, as English is not my native language, if I still haven’t clarified some issues, welcome to contact me and I will explain them again.