A Comparative Study on the Curriculum of Graduate Education : Japan and the United States

我们调查了美国和日本的研究生项目，特别强调社会学。本研究采用多种方法进行访谈研究、课堂观察、文献调查和问卷调查。研究结果如下：1.研究生项目实际工作的多样性虽然项目本身的顺序有较高的一致性(即课程作业、资格考试、论文)，但我们可以发现研究生项目的实际工作具有很大的差异性。“核心”的存在和其他问题的多样性“理论”、“方法”和“统计”似乎包含了未来社会学家的核心知识和技能。然而，在理论内容和实证方法上存在很大的差异。同一性与多样性的背景作为研究生课程设置和课程设置多样性的背景，存在着各种类型的争议，包括理论和意识形态的争议。然而，在许多部门，量化方法的要求似乎正在发挥着推动其项目标准化和结构化的作用。定量的知识和技能将在学科、部门和个人层面的激烈生存斗争中发挥有用的作用。这些发现表明，日本学者和教育工作者以及高级管理人员不应更多地关注研究生课程的正式结构，而应更多地关注体系的实际运作。我们应该在最坏的意义上避免强迫和模仿同构，并应该建立足够强大的专业社区来对抗这些倾向。

We have investigated graduate programs in the United States and Japan with special emphasis on sociology. Adopting multi-method approach, we have carried out interview research, class room observation, and ducument survey, as well as questionnaire survey.The following are some of our findings :1. Diversity in the actual working of graduate programWhile there is a fairly high degree of uniformity in the sequence of the program itself (i. e., coursework, qualifying exminations, dissertation), we can find a great diversity in the actual working of the graduate program.2. Existence of "core" and diversity in other mattersIt seems that "theory", "method", and "statistics" comprises the core knowledge and skills for the would-be sociologists. Yet, there is a great diversity in the content of theory and empirical approaches.3. Backgroud of uniformity and diversityVarious types of controversies including theoretical and ideological ones exist as background of the diversity of the graduate programs and curricula. In many departments, however, requirements of quantitative methods seem to be functioning as a force for standardization and structuration of theie programs. Knoweldge and skills of quantitative kinds will work as a useful device in the severe struggle for survival at the disciplinary, departmental, and individual levels.These findings suggest that Japanese scholars and educators, as well as administrators at the high offices, should pay more attention not to the formal structure of the graduate program, but to the actual working of the system. We should avoid coercive and mimetic isomorphism in the worst sense and should establish professional community strong enough to counteract these tendencies.