Measurement And Analysis Of Social Cohesion

Over the past three decades, China’s economic growth has averaged nearly nine percent annually. However, after the dazzling development of economy, there is a series of sharp social contradictions and serious polarization (between the rural and urban areas, between the rich and the poor, etc.), which caused by the uneven redistribution of various resources. Under the circumstances of globalization and rapid population mobility, the introduction of a theory of social cohesion can undoubtedly help decreasing the level of social tension and maintaining social stability through economic and social institutional reforms.During the last two decades, the theory of social cohesion has attracted a great deal of attention in western countries. In addition, the theory has become one of the most important guidelines of social policy and institutional reform. It has also promoted the trust and mutual assistance between people from all levels. The study on social cohesion in China is just at the initial stage. Through learning the theory of social cohesion from the western countries, on the one hand, we can get more knowledge about how to solve the similar social problems, such as social pluralism and social exclusion; on the other hand, we can build our own social cohesion theory according to Chinese actual needs. As a result, the conclusions of both western researches and Chinese own studies can contribute to build the "Chinese social cohesion theory".From the sociological research method, this paper can be divided into three main parts:in the first part, the paper sorted out the definitions of social cohesion, as well as a variety of theoretical origins of economics and sociology from all levels. In this part, the main purpose is to certify the values and effects of social cohesion on the theoretical perspective; while at the same time, through reviewing the relevant researches on measuring social cohesion, the paper can certify the real value of social cohesion from the operational perspective; in the second part, by analyzing the social conditions and urgent social problems in China, the paper developed a set of indicators to measure Chinese social cohesion. Additionally, the set of indicators can be divided into two parts:the objective one and the subjective one; in the third part, through measuring and comparing the level of social cohesion in31provinces of China, the paper explained the relevant outcomes and the defects of the selected indicators of social cohesion. Finally, the paper suggested the direction of further research, which is impossible to be attained in this paper due to the limitation of acquiring relevant data.