On March 22, the Chinese National Sports and Society Survey (CNSSS) project kickoff meeting & seminar was held at Renmin University of China (RUC), Beijing. Present at the meeting were Feng Shizheng, Vice President of RUC, Zhang Tao, Director of the Science and Education Department of the General Administration of Sport of China, Chen Jiping, Secretary of the Party Committee of WHSU, Lyu Wangang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of WHSU, senior experts in the science of physical culture and sports from more than ten institutions inside and outside Beijing and experts and scholars in social sciences from Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, etc.
Feng Shizheng made a speech on behalf of Renmin University of China. He pointed out that China is in a critical period of social transformation, and the development of sports is confronted with new challenges and opportunities. The cooperation on this project is not only an important step for the two universities to join hands and seek common development, but also an important initiative to deepen the educational reform and improve the quality of education. He hoped that the two sides would deepen the exchange and cooperation, grasp the general trend, see the situation clearly, give full play to the advantages, and work together to make the project a model of inter-university cooperation, a benchmark of social survey, and a high-quality product that satisfies all parties, so as to contribute wisdom and strength to the path for a strong sports nation with Chinese characteristics.
Zhang Tao made a speech on behalf of the Science and Education Department of the General Administration of Sport of China. He indicated that sport is a symbol of national strength, a yardstick of national health and a sign of national prosperity. When China is building a strong sports nation, it is especially essential and urgent to establish a systematic, standardized and scientific sports and social survey database. The establishment of China’s first database of sports and society survey with a joint effort of WHSU and the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China (NSRC) is an important initiative to comply with the national demand for the construction of a strong sports nation in the new era, and will certainly play a significant role in promoting the research in sports sociology.
Chen Jiping gave a speech of thanks on behalf of WHSU. He said that in the era of big data, the project’s large-scale national sports and society survey and the establishment of a database will facilitate the development and advancement of sports disciplines, contribute to the high-quality development of sports, and enhance the status and role of sports in national development strategies. He hoped that this project would be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with RUC in discipline construction, talent cultivation, scientific research, faculty, social service, etc., to give full play to their respective advantages and realize mutual benefits and win-win outcomes, so as to contribute more to the building of a strong educational system, a strong sports nation and healthy China.
At the seminar, Prof. Huang Qian, the person in charge of the CNSSS project and other members of the project team reported on the general situation of the project, the survey framework, the sampling plan and the survey implementation.
The experts and scholars present at the seminar had a thorough discussion of the project. It was unanimously agreed that China is in a critical period of social transformation and that the development of sports is facing new challenges and opportunities. In the context of economic and social development, the improvement of people’s living standards, as well as the people’s diversified and personalized needs for sports, the CNSSS project is of great practical significance for comprehensively grasping the actual situation of the development of sports in China, and is a landmark for the research in sports sociology. Experts suggest that we should be good at recognizing and dealing with this survey with the concepts of system, comprehensiveness, connection and development; we should be good at grasping the sampling, analysis, data processing and the final conclusions of this survey with the principle of reciprocal transformation of quantity and quality; and we should be good at comprehending the present state of things as well as the future evolution with the principle of causality.
The Chinese National Sports and Society Survey (CNSSS), initiated and organized by WHSU and assisted by the National Survey Research Center at Renmin University of China (NSRC), aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the specific content, quantity, frequency, structure, preferences and expectations and development trends of the national sports situation and social development in China, as well as the factors affecting the development of sports and society by means of telephone surveys and door-to-door interviews, so as to provide reliable data support for increasing and optimizing the supply of sports products and services, effectively cultivating the concept of sports development, and facilitating the formulation of relevant sports development policies.
