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NOTES AND QUERIES
RESEARCH ON FAMILY VALUES AND CULTURE CHANGE IN HONGKONG'S MODERN CHINESE NOVELS
130 novels, parts of novels and short stories (simply called "novels" below) in Chinese language of the years 1960-67 have been analyzed. Only novels were included which have their setting in present-day Hongkong. They are printed as books, in periodicals and daily newspapers. The following data have so far been assembled. From them some preliminary observations can be made.
1. Material
1.1 List of authors according to origin from North or South China, occupation, income.
1.2 List of newspapers and periodicals according to circulation, class of readers.
1.3 Notes on readers according to sex and class.
1.4 Summaries of the contents of each novel.
1.5 List of the values and attitudes of the main characters of each novel according to class (upper, middle, lower) and age (young, old). Both distinctions have proved useful.
1.6 Tabulation (as 1.5) of these values and attitudes, specifically arranged under the following topics:
individual versus family and group,
achievement orientation versus non-achievement orientation,
attitude for or against Western culture,
attitude to law and morals.
2. Method
2.1 From some of the most widely-read publications those 130 novels etc. were selected which deal with relevant social topics as listed in 1.6.
2.2 Some balance between books, periodicals and newspapers was attempted.
The sample of novels in books was balanced according to the main two price groups.