Action research in China during late 1970s and 1980s was influenced by positivist scientific research, believing the purpose of doing action research is to explore the general law of education. It was carried out through educational experimentations emphasizing the control of the experimental conditions. Starting from 1990s, action research in China followed the positivist model of hypothesis verification on the one hand, while on the other hand, it introduced the notion of hermeneutics: finding and solving problems in real teaching situations and thereby understanding the real situation. Entering the new millennium, action research in China has further followed hermeneutics, accompanied by the emergence of "grassroots" action research.