1950년대 말 아시아재단 서울지부의연구 지원 사례연구

Abstract

With the backing of the Asia Foundation Seoul office, Koh Hwang-gyong, Lee Man-gap, Lee Hyo-jae, and Lee Hae-yŏng published the Rural Family Life Survey(Seoul National University Publishing Department) in 1963. By referencing Asia Foundation documents held at Stanford University, this paper traces the history of rural family life survey support and analyzes background details of research support offered by the Asia Foundation Seoul office in addition to its objectives and achievements. According to these documents, In 1958 Koh Hwang-gyong submitted a research proposal to the Korean office of the Asia Foundation that argued the necessity of research. Receiving various forms of support, not only research funds, but the ability to participate in international conferences, the provision of reports about international research, and the use of statistic machines, they completed their research with the publication of their book in 1963. At that time, the Asia Foundation had a free Asian community development project. Because this was a survey about the conditions of rural Korea that also compiled statistics about the family, two areas that had proven to be difficult to assess by international aid organizations who sought to support Korean society, this research received enthusiastic support from the foundation. Their research were not only the first attempt to empirically investigate Korean society, but also the introduction of American structural socialism, i.e., social research methodology in Korean sociology. The research conducted by Koh’s team contributed to Korean academia by helping to train junior scholars in the field of the social sciences, proving not only the effectiveness of collaboration between the foundation and universities, but also leading to the acquisition of objective knowledge about Korean society, and is therefore a successful example of support by the Korean office of the Asia Foundation.