中國大陸客家研究經歷了三個階段：「前羅香林時代」、「羅香林時代」、「族群理論時代」。研究範式則經歷了從「文化—民系」範式向「族群—認同」範式的轉換，在這一轉換過程中，「族群」概念逐漸取代了「民系」概念。「方言群體」或許是個比較合適指稱客家的概念，但仍應從整體史的角度觀察客家地區的歷史。將來中國大陸 的客家研究，應盡力融入歷史學、社會學、人類學等學科中，並為這些學科提供學術資源才能獲得更大發展；研究方法和領域上應盡量採用歷史人類學的方法拓展客家區域社會經濟史。關於客家源流問題已經耗費客家學者太多精力，學界關注的中心問題應以「客家形成」代替「客家特質」，致力於更加清晰地展示客家區域社會變遷過程。

The development of the Hakka studies in Mainland China could be divided into three stages: “pre-Luo Xianglin era,” “Luo Xianglin era” and “ethnicity theory era.” The Hakka was initially regarded by researchers as a “culture/ ethnic subgroup.” However, many of the recent studies suggested that “the Hakka” is more of a concept of “ethnicity/ ethnic identity,” rather than a “culture/ ethnic subgroup.” Some researchers further pointed out that the Hakka has formed a “dialect group,” and should be understood within the wilder context of regional history. This paper suggests that the future studies of the Hakka must incorporate the perspectives of three disciplines: history, sociology, and anthropology. It is contended that the researchers should adopt the methodology of historical anthropology to gain insights into the local socio-economic history. Until recently, much research has been done on “the origins of the Hakkas.” This paper suggests that instead of focusing on “what the characteristics of the Hakkas are,” the future researchers should concentrate on “how the Hakkas were/ are being formed.”