Tianyue Zhou

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.