Content of Constructing China's Independent Knowledge System of Demography: Reconstructing Classical Demographic Concepts in our journal

Published in last 1 year |  In last 2 years |  In last 3 years |  All Please wait a minute... For Selected: Download Citations EndNote Ris BibTeX Toggle Thumbnails Select An Exploration of the “Name” and the “Substance” of Classical Demographic Concepts and Indicators: A Case Study of “Infant Mortality Rate” Zhai Zhenwu, Huang Zhuo Population Research    2025, 49 (6): 3-16.   Abstract （2913）      PDF （1432KB）（372）       Knowledge map    Save Due to disparities in national realities and linguistic systems between China and the West, the introduction and application of demographic indicators borrowed from Western scholarship often suffer from problems such as mechanical adoption and inconsistencies between name and substance. These problems are mainly manifested in literal translation, conceptual over-generalization, inconsistent indicator terminology, and discrepancies between indicator names and their computational definitions. A typical example is the term “Infant Mortality Rate”, which has long been rendered in Chinese as “婴儿死亡率”. However, this translation is misleading. By tracing the historical development of “Infant Mortality Rate” and examining the original expressions in English-language demographic literature, we find that terms denoting similar mortality indicators are strictly differentiated in wording when referring to “rates” or “probabilities”, and that all major computational approaches to the “Infant Mortality Rate” adhere to the core principle of probability. However, this essential distinction has been completely obscured in its Chinese rendering. We propose that terms prone to misuse or conceptual confusion should be localized and refined in accordance with China's empirical realities. Such efforts are essential to ensuring the accuracy of classical demographic concepts and indicators in the Chinese context. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics Select Reconstructing the Concept of Family: A Response to Low Fertility and Transitional Society Song Jian, Chen Wenqi Population Research    2025, 49 (6): 17-30.   Abstract （3242）      PDF （1417KB）（262）       Knowledge map    Save Reconstructing the concept of family can better respond to the challenges posed by low fertility and the transitional society in this era. The article traces the formation and evolution logic of the concept of family, reviews the efforts made by the academic community so far to reconstruct the concept, and puts forward the redefined concept. The concept of “family” in China was formed through a hybrid system and ideological framework that emerged from the dual logic of the “family” in the patriarchal system and the “household” in governance, and was shaped by the transplantation of modern concepts and the changes in contemporary society. The evolution of the Western concept of family provides a necessary historical reference for understanding the institutional dependence and cultural adaptation issues of the concept of family generally used in China. The academic community both at home and abroad are reconfiguring the family in terms of theory, methods, and policy adjustments, with focus shifting from “household” to “kinship”. The article redefines the concept of family as: “A network of resource sharing and risk allocation formed by individuals connected through kinship and quasi-kinship relationships such as marriage, blood ties, or adoption”, which can be illustrated as a nested circle that expands from the inside out, consisting of “household-shared family—functional family—kinship circle family”. Reference | Related Articles | Metrics