In March this year, the "Work Plan on Developing Investigation and Research in the Whole Party" issued by the Central Office emphasized that developing investigation and research in the whole party, as an important part of the theme education carried out in the whole party, will make a good start in promoting the comprehensive construction of a socialist modern country. Investigation and research is the heirloom of our party, and it is also the natural mission and job of a new type of think tank with China characteristics. Comprehensive social investigation and continuous information acquisition are the foundation for think tanks to improve the level of consultation and advice. At the time when the whole Party is engaged in investigation and research, think tanks need to put investigation and research in a more prominent position, focus on improving the quality of investigation, integrate social investigation and academic research, make in-depth observation, understand the general trend of the times, grasp the historical initiative, deepen the high-quality development of the construction of new think tanks with China characteristics, actively promote the scientific and democratic decision-making of the Party and the government, and make due contributions to the realization of the goal of the second century.
Improve the political position and actively serve the national strategic needs.
General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "Investigation and research are the foundation of seeking things and the way to accomplish things. Without investigation, there is no right to speak, and without investigation, there is no decision-making power." As a specialized organization that provides decision-making consultation for the Party and the government, think tanks should, first of all, adhere to the guidance of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era and fully implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress. Think tanks should take the study, propaganda and implementation of the spirit of the 20th Party Congress as the primary political task at present and in the future, do a good job in learning, understanding and implementation with a high sense of responsibility and mission, and turn the learning results into practical results in further promoting the high-quality development of think tanks in the new era and new journey. Secondly, think tanks should closely focus on the implementation of the Party’s theory, line, principles and policies, and the major decision-making arrangements of the CPC Central Committee, fully grasp the world outlook and methodology of the Supreme Leader’s Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought in the new era, as well as the stand, viewpoint and method running through it, vigorously carry forward the glorious tradition and fine style of work of the Party, continuously deepen the understanding and grasp of the Party’s innovative theory, and be good at casting souls with the Party’s innovative theory. Thirdly, think tanks should always follow the party’s line and principles, adhere to the party’s mass line, come from among the masses, always stand with the people, want to be together, work together, understand their opinions, sum up their experience and concentrate their wisdom; Insist on seeking truth from facts, adhere to the principle of party spirit, proceed from reality in everything, integrate theory with practice, listen to the truth, examine the truth, and seek the truth in details. Finally, think tanks should firmly serve the decision-making of the party and the government and establishThe core idea of "investigation and research is the vitality and primary research method of think tanks". Investigation and research should be targeted, consider the needs of decision-making, and seek the key points; It should be applied, so as to apply the research to specific problems; Be forward-looking, both based on the present and facing the future; To be effective, "being born at the right time" can be used.
In-depth study of planning and development of practical direction according to local conditions
The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "It is necessary to prevent research for the sake of research, to prevent’ starting a car, having a meeting in a room, speaking and reading manuscripts’, and to prevent cluster research and’ show-like’ research." Think tanks should really implement, land and refine the investigation and research. First, they should screen the research information and determine the research theme. Choosing the right topic is the first step in the investigation and research of think tanks. Think tanks should make clear the research direction, select the right research topics, firmly grasp the top priority and the current importance, and focus on investigating outstanding problems in reform, development and stability, which are related to the overall and strategic major issues of economic and social development, as well as the hot, difficult and key issues that the people care about, so as to achieve small incision depth, promote the solution of big problems and serve the decision-making of the party and the government. The second is to strengthen the overall planning of research and plan the layout of research. Think tanks should clarify the regional layout, annual planning and specific requirements of field research, pay attention to the frequency and quality of research, and coordinate and solve the difficulties and problems existing in the research in a timely manner. We must adhere to the problem-oriented, goal-oriented and result-oriented principles, listen to opinions from all sides extensively, earnestly strengthen the concepts of innovation, talents and implementation, and constantly promote the quality and efficiency of think tank work. The third is to pay attention to research and propaganda and spread the voice of research. Think tanks should tell the story of investigation and research through media communication, determine the unique discourse, expression and narrative mode of investigation and research, and promote the society to think more positively, rationally and constructively about investigation and research work; Build communication platforms such as websites, train professional think tank operators, and transform academic discourse and research discourse into media discourse in time.Launch think tanks, disseminate policy ideas, and guide the public. The fourth is to build a research mechanism and do a good job in research and evaluation. Think tanks should comprehensively use discussion interviews, random visits, questionnaires, expert surveys, sampling surveys, statistical analysis, etc., and make full use of modern information technologies such as the Internet and big data to carry out investigations and studies to improve their scientificity and effectiveness; Establish a whole-process research and evaluation system, put scientific research innovation in a more scientific and comprehensive evaluation framework, make a dynamic comprehensive evaluation of research quality, research content and achievements, and objectively and comprehensively evaluate the potential, achievements and shortcomings of think tank research from multiple angles, so as to truly realize "promoting reform by evaluation" and "promoting construction by evaluation".
Insist on seeking truth and being pragmatic, vigorously promote research and see results.
The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "We must persist in going among the masses, go into practice, listen to what the grassroots cadres and the masses are thinking and anxious, and understand and grasp the real situation. We must not take a cursory look at the flowers and skim the water." Investigation and research runs through the whole process of government policy formulation, selection, implementation and evaluation, which is the key to improve the quality of policy research by think tanks. To produce real and effective results, think tanks must go deep into reality and carefully investigate. The first is to define the goal and find the right problem. Think tanks should highlight problem-oriented and goal-oriented, take the policies promulgated by the party and the government as the starting point of social investigation, identify the problems, analyze the causes of the problems, and put forward truly feasible and effective solutions and schemes to the problems. The second is to trace back to the source and get first-hand information. Think tanks should go deep into the front line, seek depth, detail and accuracy, understand the actual situation in a multi-level, multi-faceted and multi-channel manner, truly master first-hand materials, and analyze specific problems in the front line. At the same time, we should handle the relationship between second-hand information and first-hand information and make full use of the value of information. The third is to put an end to one-sidedness, be accurate and effective. Faced with a large number of materials and situations, in order to ensure the truthfulness and credibility of the research results, think tanks should make "multi-comparison and repeated consideration" when conducting research, dare to expose and analyze contradictions, study the development of contradictions, overcome the one-sidedness of understanding, analyze the feasibility of research, weigh its advantages and disadvantages, and select the best scheme, thus making the research more scientific. The fourth is the integration path and multi-perspective evaluation. Think tank personnel should overcome the disadvantages of unilateral research when investigating and studying.Pay attention to the convergence of multiple independent investigation and research paths, and combine investigation and research to scientifically evaluate the information obtained from the investigation.
Strengthen intellectual support and steadily improve the quality of output.
The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader pointed out: "To measure the success of investigation and research, it is not to look at the scale and time of investigation and research, nor to just look at how the investigation report is written. The key depends on the effectiveness of investigation and research, the application of research results, and whether the problem can be solved well." The fundamental purpose of investigation and research in think tanks is to solve problems. Failure to solve problems is formalism. Think tanks should do high-quality investigation and research and produce high-quality results. First, they should be more scientific and improve the accuracy of analysis and research. After social investigation, think tanks should comprehensively use the methods of induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis, concreteness and abstraction and comparison, classification, statistics and reasonable association to form a general perceptual grasp of things on the basis of mastering factual materials, and then analyze and compare the individual aspects of the essence or internal relations of things, and finally grasp the law of the development of things and get a holistic understanding, thus providing scientific basis for decision-making. At the same time, think tanks should pay regular visits to research objects and issues, pay attention to discovering and studying new problems, and ensure the formation of a closed loop of investigation and research work. Second, we must strengthen the system and enhance the transformation of results. Think tanks can build an incentive mechanism for the transformation of research results, form a moderate competition with significant incentive effect, and improve the performance level of think tank researchers. Improve the supply mechanism of think tank research results, improve the way, form, standardized procedure of think tank consulting and assisting politics, and the government’s policy of purchasing think tank services, and optimize the transformation path of research results. Think tanks can unite with other social forces to create an innovative model of "scientific research+industry+fund" and make "innovation chain-industrial chain-capital chain"Communicate and integrate, and effectively promote the transformation of think tank research results. Third, we should enhance the uniqueness and enhance the "brightness" of the research report. In order to form a high-quality research report, think tanks should have a good overall grasp of the content and form, with clear views, accurate facts, strong arguments, rigorous structure, clear organization and vivid expression, so as to be "full of words, without losing a word". Fourth, we should enhance the times and increase the depth of new think tanks. Building a policy investigation and research system based on modern investigation organization and means is one of the goals of building a new type of think tank. To build a new type of think tank with China characteristics, we should inherit and carry forward the methodology of investigation and research, integrate the evidence-based analysis of the Party’s policies with the policy research of modern think tanks, and improve the level of evidence-based analysis of policies with the theories and methods of modern think tanks. Only in this way can a new type of think tank with China characteristics do a good job of grounded and emboldened investigation and research, and provide strong intellectual support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
(Author: Wang Heng, a researcher at Zhejiang Normal University Base of Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center, the supreme leader of Zhejiang Province, and the executive director of the think tank of African Research Institute; Zhou Xingcan and Wang Yuqin, master and doctoral students of Zhejiang Normal University)























































