My research focuses on the history of statistics and the development of quantitative culture in modern and contemporary China. In particular, my PhD project aims to explore why a comprehensive statistical system and advanced statistical techniques did not emerge during China’s planned economy period, despite the statisticians’ approach with a strong reliance on data collection. I seek to investigate the reasons behind the rejection of certain statistical theories by administrative and scientific institutions, as well as how these attitudes eventually transformed after the Reform and Opening-up period, which constitutes the foundation of China’s current political-economic order. Additionally, my research examines the role of quantitative culture in China’s socialist modernization process which developed in the absence of a civil society and has origins distinct from those in the Western context. Prior to joining FAU, I earned my master’s degree of Social Science from UCLA and my bachelor’s degree in economics from Zhejiang University.
Tianyue Zhou
Chair of Sinology focusing on the Intellectual and Cultural History of China (Alexander von Humboldt Professorship)
Research associates