Investigation and Research on How to Win with Truth in Li Xiang China Youth Study Class Director | Integrity | Youth
Author: Professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Public Administration, Yanshan University, Du Zhizhou, Director of the Center for Integrity and Governance Research, and Director of the China Association for Clean Governance and Legal Research
Without investigation, there is no right to speak, and without investigation, there is no decision-making power. Investigation and research are the heirloom of our party and the fundamental skill for doing various work well.The Second Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China emphasized the need to "vigorously promote the trend of investigation and research, vigorously promote the style of seeking truth and pragmatism, and truly make achievements that can withstand the test of history and the people.". How can investigation and research be objective, scientific, and effective? The answer is the word "true".
With sincerity
A positive mindset. Mentality determines behavior, and behavior determines outcome. Leaders and cadres should adjust their mentality, fully understand the extreme importance of investigation and research in making decisions, implementing, strengthening management, and promoting development, in order to actively carry out investigation and research to promote governance reform and enhance the noble ideal of people's well-being. Only by deeply understanding the valuable value of investigation and research can leading cadres stimulate their deep passion for research, achieve "hand to heart" and "physical and mental integration", and strive for progress without complaint, avoiding "poverty and wealth" and "superficial research".
The heart of exploration. Action obeys and serves the goal. The goal of investigation and research is to identify and solve problems. Therefore, party members and cadres should have a problem awareness when conducting research, maintain a strong curiosity and thirst for knowledge about new things, phenomena, and problems. Firstly, conduct research with questions in mind. Asking questions is the starting point of investigation and research, analyzing problems is the support point, and solving problems is the foothold. Party members and cadres should explore, identify, and analyze problems in practice with doubts and speculations. Secondly, explore the underlying issues behind surface problems. The problems exposed in the initial stage of investigation and research are often superficial phenomena, requiring insight, exploratory power, and willpower to explore and study the hidden problems behind the surface. Finally, delve deeper into the reasons behind the key issues. After discovering major key issues through investigation and research, it is necessary to explore and trace the root cause with a spirit of "breaking the sand pot and asking to the end", and strive to reveal the causes and consequences of the problems.
A humble heart. When conducting investigations and research, especially at the grassroots level, leading cadres should approach the survey subjects with a humble attitude of learning and seeking advice. Comrade Mao Zedong once pointed out that investigation and research must have an "eye down" attitude, and have the spirit of humbly learning from the masses and being willing to be the primary school students of the masses. When Comrade Liu Shaoqi returned to rural areas in Hunan for research, he kindly said to the masses, "We came down to investigate, to seek advice from you and learn from you." The essence of investigation and research is to learn and explore. Party members and cadres can only "achieve success" and "apply what they have learned" by putting down their positions and worshipping the people as teachers, being good "elementary school students", and humbly seeking advice from the masses.
Listen to the truth
I want to hear the truth. Investigation and research must listen to the truth, only by listening to the truth can we discover real problems and find true solutions. This first requires leading cadres to listen to the truth. If leading cadres only want to listen to the praise of the masses, cope with superior inspections, and complete a beautiful report when conducting investigations and research, such investigations are not only futile, but may even damage the government's image and naturally cannot gain the support of the masses. On the contrary, leaders who want to listen to the truth are often able to care about the people's feelings, think about what the people want, and be anxious about what the people need. To listen to the truth reflects the professional ethics of cadres.
Dare to listen to the truth. Leaders and cadres should not only want to hear the truth, but also dare to listen to the truth. People generally prefer to listen to praise and affirmation rather than criticism and criticism. However, investigation and research are aimed at "finding contradictions" and "finding problems", which means facing the complaints, opinions, and dissatisfaction of the masses directly. This requires researchers to step out of their comfort zone and cultivate the courage, courage, and sense of responsibility to face problems and contradictions head-on. Daring to listen to the truth reflects the personal charm of cadres.
Be good at listening to the truth. Some grassroots cadres and the masses, out of various concerns such as fear of offending others, are unwilling to reflect the true situation and express their true intentions when accepting interviews or participating in discussions. Therefore, in order to hear the truth in research, effective strategies need to be employed. For example, meeting several like-minded friends at the grassroots level is a good strategy.Being good at listening to the truth reflects the leadership art of cadres.
Find the truth
Find the truth in numbers. To win with truth in investigation and research, it is also necessary to eliminate falsehood and preserve truth, revealing the true development of things. "Hearing is false," but "seeing is not necessarily true.". The various sounds we hear and the materials we browse are likely to be processed second-hand information, and even have a certain degree of confusion and deception. This requires leaders to search for clues from the traces and data left behind in government management and service processes, and through big data analysis, to discern the authenticity of research information, in order to obtain objective and valuable decision-making information.
Find the truth in the case. Analyzing already qualitative cases is another important way to investigate and discover the truth. Cases that have undergone standardized investigation and evidence collection usually have clear facts. Therefore, conducting a comprehensive investigation of disciplinary and illegal cases, civil disputes, and other cases that have already formed conclusions can save the cost of obtaining true information and improve the reliability of research results. In addition to case analysis, it is also possible to systematically explore some authoritative case libraries, explore the real problems that exist in local politics, economy, society, culture, and other aspects, summarize the operating rules and development trends, and provide reference for scientific decision-making of the Party and the country.
Seek the truth secretly. The sounding of gongs and the enthusiastic investigation and research often fail to understand the truth. Therefore, "micro server private access" is a choice to obtain the truth. "Micro clothing private visits" are not only conducive to preventing the negative phenomenon of a few leading cadres using clever words and expressions, but also easier to make the people speak the truth. Secret investigations have become an important way for some leading cadres to discover problems and seek the truth. Some leading cadres often do not bring their drivers and colleagues, and immediately call the relevant unit leaders to report any problems wherever they go. Similar investigations and undercover investigations, as well as "undercover investigations", should become a trend in research and investigation.
Practicing True Skills
The key is to focus on the key points. To achieve practical results in investigation and research, it is necessary to practice real skills, and the first and foremost is to focus on the key points. Investigation and research should adhere to the principle of emphasis, and in the process of researching problems, we should focus on grasping the main contradictions in the development of things. When analyzing a certain contradiction, we should focus on grasping the main aspects of the contradiction. If you grab your beard and eyebrows at once, you will go in the wrong direction and not receive real scientific research results. Therefore, to improve the level of investigation and research, it is necessary to frequently think about and grasp the key points. The work plan for conducting investigations and research throughout the party clearly defines 12 key areas that investigation and research should focus on, providing direction for current and future research work. Leaders and cadres at all levels should conduct targeted investigations and research based on the actual situation of the region and department, focusing on prominent issues in economic and social development and difficult obstacles strongly reflected by the masses.
The power of systematic thinking. Things are universally interconnected, and no problem exists in isolation. Therefore, we cannot approach problems unilaterally or in isolation, but should adhere to a systematic thinking approach that considers the overall situation and recognizes the big picture. Only by continuously strengthening systematic thinking can we grasp the whole, grasp the key points, combine principles with flexibility, and effectively analyze and solve the problems discovered in investigation and research. Leaders and cadres must accurately grasp the relationship between phenomena and essence, forms and contents, causes and results, contingency and inevitability, possibility and reality, internal and external factors, commonalities and individuality in research. "Those who do not seek the overall situation are not enough to seek a specific area." Leaders and cadres should "focus on the big picture and start from small areas", determine research topics, combine solving current problems with planning long-term development, combine micro research with macro research, combine current situation research with trend research, and enhance the scientific, systematic, and forward-looking nature of investigation and research.
The merit of research methods. Different types of research methods have different functions and advantages, and various research methods can complement each other's strengths and weaknesses, jointly serving survey research. Leaders and cadres should continuously enhance their ability to flexibly apply various research methods, keep up with the times, expand research channels, enrich research methods, and innovate research methods. Firstly, make full use of various channels such as holding symposiums, forming government advisory groups, and conducting media interviews to conduct research, pay attention to various information, and conduct investigations anytime, anywhere. Secondly, comprehensively consider various research methods. Investigation and research should combine micro and macro aspects, focusing not only on specific details such as people, the market, roads, and tabletops, but also on the overall economic and social development to broaden the perspective of the investigation. Investigation and research should combine follow-up visits with scheduled visits. We should open up our reception and listen to the voices of the people when conducting follow-up investigations. Conduct a survey on common issues and promote the resolution of batches of issues. Thirdly, innovate research methods and coordinate efforts. We need to use traditional research methods such as "dissecting sparrows", "thematic surveys", and "questionnaire surveys", as well as interdisciplinary theories and modern research methods such as SPSS statistical analysis, network surveys, cloud computing, and data mining to improve the scientificity and objectivity of the investigation and research.
The achievement of perseverance. To win through investigation and research with truth, party members and cadres must also develop the ability to endure hardship, perseverance, and perseverance. It is difficult to do a good job in investigation and research due to the floating style and perfunctory approach of "exposing ten colds", "dragonflies skimming the water", and "fleeting observation".Leaders and cadres should be willing to endure hardships and setbacks, have the courage to overcome difficulties, muster up the full courage to climb mountains and cross mountains, and exercise the tenacious will of "never breaking the Loulan and never returning it". They should consistently carry out investigations and research in areas with sharp contradictions. Only by persevering, not retreating in the face of difficulties, and being able to charge forward in the face of contradictions, can we truly transform the results of investigation and research into real achievements in promoting work.
Jianzhen Yan
Get to the heart of the problem. The focus of investigation and research is to provide suggestions and solutions to problems. Investigation and research must establish truth and solve real problems. Grasping the crux and key of the problem is the first step in building truth. Although some researchers have discovered important contradictions and issues during field research, they use the excuse that the issues are too sensitive when writing research reports and are unwilling to take effective measures against key core issues. Instead, they focus on making irrelevant "flexible" suggestions outside of the core issues, which leads to the failure of the research. To make investigation and research truly effective, leading cadres must carry forward the spirit of struggle, dare to face the most important problems and prominent contradictions, prescribe targeted treatments, and achieve the effect of cutting corners.
Consider resource constraints. The solution to any problem cannot be achieved without the necessary resources, including policy resources, human, financial resources, etc. Only methods and measures that meet policy requirements and provide property protection can be successfully implemented. Therefore, leading cadres should have a clear understanding of resource constraints, accurately grasp the existing "inventory" resources, and rationally predict the "futures" resources that may be obtained. Only on this basis can the proposed problem solutions have operability and can they be implemented effectively. Ignoring the boundaries of available resources and proposing overly advanced idealistic measures may ultimately be shelved.
Obtain public support. The countermeasures and suggestions proposed through investigation and research must receive the support and support of the general public. On the one hand, taking safeguarding the interests of the people and enhancing their well-being as the starting point. Only based on the people's standpoint, representing the interests of the masses, and solving problems, can the approach receive widespread support from the people. On the other hand, through propaganda and education, we strive to gain the recognition and understanding of the masses. We need to increase publicity efforts and patiently explain to the public for development strategies and measures in certain industries and fields with strong professionalism, in order to gain their understanding and support. In short, the people-oriented approach is the most important characteristic of building truth.
Reasonably draw on experience.In terms of horizontal reference, the differences in national conditions, provincial conditions, municipal conditions, county conditions, and local conditions may lead to the practical experience of reference being incompatible with the local conditions. In terms of vertical reference, changes in times and environments are likely to greatly diminish the value of past successful practices. Therefore, investigation and research must selectively and creatively draw on local experiences and propose targeted and actionable suggestions.
In short, only by being down-to-earth and respecting facts from beginning to end can we discover true problems and find true solutions in investigation and research, win with truth, and promote reform, innovation, and social progress.
