О т з ы в научного руководителя профессора кафедры сравнительной социологии факультета социологии СПбГУ А.В. Резаева о диссертации Ли Цзыбо (Li Zibo) «Сравнительный анализ процессов адаптации Китайских студентов, обучающихся в России и Южной Корее» («Chinese students in Russia and South Korea: comparative analysis of adaptation processes»), представленной на на соискание степени магистра по основной образовательной программе высшего образования по направлению 040100 «Социология», профиль «Европейские общества» / MA «Studies in European Societies»   A core claim of sociological theory is that modern institutions matter when there is a task to explore adaptation processes of migrants. It is really important to observe and to find out how formal and informal institutions specify reality of everyday life of new-comers.  The paper prepared by  Li Zibo, a Chinese student, as a finale of his studying sociology in the framework of MA Program at St Petersburg State University, deals with a comparative analysis of adaptation processes of Chinese students in everyday life of Russia and Korea.   The author begins with this question:  how culture distance affects adaptation of students studying abroad from the perspectives of socio-cultural adaptation and psychological adaptation?   His general objective is to understand the conditions, institutions and mechanisms under which different cultural groups of students find their passes in the international by definition higher educational milieu. Specifically, he tries to explain the conditions under which Chinese find their “advantages” and “disadvantages” for adaptation in Russia and Korea.  The core premise asserted by Li Zibo is that the larger culture distance will result in greater cross-cultural adaptation difficulties. He uses both qualitative (interview) and quantitative (survey) methods to check the validity of the hypothesis.  As both a participant in and observer of this sociological journey, Li Zibo presents quite a professional account on comparative analysis of adaptation processes of international students in everyday life of St Petersburg.   The paper is written in accessible language, terminology is clearly explained, and concepts are illustrated with examples from everyday life of Chinese students as well as multiple field research data. Each section of the dissertation includes the main body that introduces, discusses, and summarizes its theme.   The outcomes of the field research organized and conducted by Li Zibo are sound and valid.  He summarizes his research findings in five propositions: 1. The culture distance between China and Russia is larger than that between China and Korea. 2. The Chinese students in South Korea socio-culturally and psychologically adapt to the host culture better than the Chinese students in Russia. 3. The Chinese students both in South Korea and Russia maintain a healthy psychological state. 4. In socio-cultural adaptation, a larger culture distance results in a more difficult adaptation for Chinese students. The correlation between culture distance and socio-cultural adaptation difficulty is positive. 5. There is no significant correlation between culture distance and psychological adaptation.  It was my great pleasure to work with Li Zibo who produced a well-written and clearly organized dissertation that I assess very high and recommend it for a public defense in the State Committee.     Научный руководитель                                                             д.ф.н., проф. А.В. Резаев   Рецензия На выпускную квалификационную работу Ли Цзыбо (Li Zibo) «Сравнительный анализ процессов адаптации Китайских студентов, обучающихся в России и Южной Корее» («Chinese students in Russia and South Korea: comparative analysis of adaptation processes»), представленной на на соискание степени магистра по основной образовательной программе высшего образования по направлению 040100 «Социология», профиль «Европейские общества» / MA «Studies in European Societies»  The thesis of Li Zibo “Chinese students in Russia and South Korea: comparative analysis of adaptation processes and phenomena in everyday life” is a professional and completed study. Moreover, it is a good example of comparative research: we can find comparative orientationsin the research object: “Chinese students in South Korea and Russia”. The cases of South Korea and Russia are relevant for the study of Chinese students abroad because: Firstly, those two countries are influential neighbor of China; Secondly, the number of Chinese students in these two countries are similar; Thirdly, as Li Zibo’s research direction is the impact of culture distance to cross-cultural adaptation, these two countries meet the author’s demands as South Korean culture belongs to Oriental culture while Russian culture is an orthodox one. Also, the subject of the research is quite urgent because China has already become the biggest “students provider” for many studying destination. However, the adaptation level of such a huge social group is not optimistic. Li Zibo tried to use different approaches in his research. He combined quantitative and qualitative methods to study the adaptation and the perceived culture distance of Chinese students in both countries. He employed relevant questionnaires and took interviews to reach his research aim. In my opinion, the research design is good. The paper has the following structure: introduction, four chapters, conclusion, a list of sources and appendices. In the introduction the research background, research design and main research questions are mentioned. The first chapter addresses the theoretical approaches comprising cross-cultural adaptation and culture distance. Also, the empirical finding relevant to the topic are presented. Chapter Two presents the general introduction of the methodology of this study. In Chapter Three detailed data and interview analysis are carried out. The results of analysis are presented in this chapter. Chapter Four answers the research questions and checks the validity of the hypothesis made by the author. The conclusion points out the main findings of the study and implication. Meanwhile, the limitation and improvement for further study are suggested by the author. Despite the fact that this study is a completed comparative research, I have some comments and questions to the study. 1. The main research question is formulated as “To what extent can culture distance influence cross-cultural adaptation of Chinese international students in South Korea and Russia?” The author used data to show that there is a significant correlation between culture distance and adaptation. But in what aspects, how to improve the situation had been seldom mentioned. 2. In the diploma the author frequently used the term “culture distance”. Are there any differences in the author’s understanding of culture distance and perceived culture distance? In my point of view, in the diploma the culture distance is measured by the impressions of Chinese students in these two countries, it is more suitable to use “perceived culture distance” instead. Therefore, I believe that the text meets the requirements for the MA thesis and Li Zibo deserves a positive mark.  К.и.н., доцент СПБГЭУ 							Давыдов С.А.