Human rights in China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Human rights in China - Essay Example The proposed study thus adopts the hermeneutical design of research not only because it promises a high degree of objectivity but also because it is considered the most appropriate methodology for a study of the social sciences. Empirical evidence will be gathered, interpreted and analyzed to disprove or confirm prior conceptions (Schostak, 2002) about the prevalence of human rights abuses in China. Hermeneutics is the art or science of interpretation, which is often used in the interpretation of biblical passages and their applications on day-to-day living. In the same manner, research using the hermeneutical approach describes the practical problem, the processes of data collection and analysis as well as its interpretation and application. When a study asks what something means, the hermeneutically designed research focuses on the entire context within which it happens. Hermeneutics requires that in reading a text, examining a word or phrase will not make sense if the reading does not consider the whole text of which the word or phrase is a part. The â€Å"whole† may be a hospital and the â€Å"part† could be a waterborne or maternity clinic, in which case the relevant study must discuss how the specialized clinic and the hospital as a general treatment center relate to each other. Thus, the proposed research on human rights in China examines how the parts arti culate the whole, and how the whole makes the parts possible and vice versa. The parts here refer to specific instances of human rights violations within China, which will be studied and interpreted according to their place in the overall picture. China is equated with arbitrary detentions, lack of legal safeguards to ensure fair trial, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and association, lack of religious freedom and human rights violations specific to women. This unsavory image of China has been established through the years not only by