Indigenization of Social Science Methodology in Hong Kong

Indigenization of Social Science Methodology in Hong Kong Since the 1970s, indigenization has been widely discussed among the Third World social scientists as a process through which a body of cultural- and national-specific knowledge can be developed in the respective countries. The discussion is seldom empirical, let alone comparative. This study attempts to analyze indigenization of social science methodology in Hong Kong by replicating Brown and Kim's Q study (1981) of indigenization in Korea. The results indicate that local social scientists generally accept the principle of indigenization, although they may disagree with each other about its process and purposes. Brown and Kim conclude that indigenization is redundant and that operationism is more fundamental: with proper operations, indigenization will take care of itself. However, this analysis reveals that indigenization is more than its procedural and operational considerations. At least from a regional perspective, indigenization revolves around the recognition of the role and contributions of the Third World scholars to the development of social science disciplines at large.