Rural social research in China has been a focus of attention among scholars since the reestablishment of sociology in mainland China in 1979. In order to document developments in and the contributions of research on rural society in China during the past three decades, this paper analyzes 305 articles that were published from 1986 to 2015 in Sociological Studies. Results of this content analysis are reported in terms of topics covered in research, keywords applied to published research, the scholarly or disciplinary orientation of the research, the professional affiliations of authors, the mode and methodology of the studies, and their geographical scope.
FeiX. (2000). 费孝通论小城镇建设.北京：群言出版社[Fei Xiaotong on the construction of small cities and towns]. Beijing: Qunyan Press.
2.
FengX. (2000). 社会学方法二十年：应用与研究 [Sociological approach during the last 20 years: Application and investigation]. 社会学研究 [Sociological Studies], 1, 1–11.
3.
HuangZ. (2005). 认识中国——走向从实践出发的社会科学 [Understanding China: Social science that starts from practice]. 中国社会科学[Social Sciences in China], 1, 83–93.
4.
LiP.SunL.WangM. (2001). 20世纪的中国：学术与社会(社会学卷. 济 南：山东人民出版社[China in the 20th century: The academic and society (sociology volume)]. Jinan: Shandong People’s Publishing House.
5.
LiS.QiuZ. (1989). 中国农村社会学十年：课题与观点 [Decade of rural sociology in China: Topics and perspectives] . 社会学研究[Sociological Studies], 6, 15–26.
6.
LinB.WangW. (2000). 对当代中国社会学经验研究及研究方法的分析与反思——90年代社会学经验研究论文的内容分析 [Analysis and review on the positive study and methodology in modern Chinese sociology]. 社会学研究[Sociological Studies], 6, 38–48.
7.
LinJ. (2001). 乡镇企业改制与农村社会可持续发展研究.济南：山东大学出版社[Property rights reform of TVEs and rural sustainable development]. Jinan: Shandong University Press.
8.
LuX.JingT. (1997). 中国现代化进程中的社会学 [Sociology during the process of China’s modernization]. 中国社会科学[Social Sciences in China], 6, 87–98.
9.
LuX. (2001). 内发的村庄.北京：社会科学文献出版社[The endogenous village]. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
10.
TanS. (2004). 农民工流动研究综述.见中国社会科学院社会学研究所编：中国社会学年鉴(1999-2002).北京：社会科学文献出版社 [A review of the study of migrant workers’ mobility]. [In: The Institute of Sociology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences(ed.)China Yearbook of Sociology (1999–2002), pp. 67–78]. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
11.
XuY.XuZ. (1999). 中国农村和农民问题研究的百年回顾 [A century retrospective look at Chinese rural and farmers’ issues]. 华中师范大学学报(人文社会科学版)[Journal of Central China Normal University], 6, 1–10.
12.
ZhangW. (1989). 十年社会学理论、方法研究的回顾和反思 [A review and reflection of the decade’s study of sociological theories and methods]. 社会学研究[Sociological Studies], 4, 19–32.
13.
ZhangZ. (1998). 当代中国社会学.北京：中国社会科学出版社[Sociology in contemporary China]. Beijing: China Social Sciences Press.
14.
ZhouZ.ZhangY. (2007). 改革以前中国乡村和农民研究的回顾 [The review of the study of rural China and farmers before reform]. 湖南文理学院学报(社会科学版)[Journal of Hunan University of Arts and Science (Social Science Edition)], 3, 14–19.
15.
ZhuY. (1997). 我国农村社会变迁与农村社会学研究述评 [A review of rural society and the study of rural sociology in China]. 社会学研究[Sociological Studies], 6, 44–54.
