Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Demographic Analysis Of Metro/Nonmetro Differences In Adult Normal Weight, Overweight, And Obesity, P. Johnelle Sparks, Susanne Schmidt

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Overweight and obesity prevalence is increasing throughout the United States, and these two health conditions seem to disproportionately affect certain segments of the adult population. To date little research has examined adult differences in normal weight, overweight, and obesity by metropolitan or nonmetropolitan residential status while controlling for important demographic, socioeconomic, behavioral, and health status characteristics. This research helps to fill this gap. We used data from the 2008 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) to empirically assess predictors of overweight and obesity risk for all adults and then by residential location. Multinomial logistic regression techniques were used to estimate …

A Portrait Of Rural Health In America, Jin Young Choi

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

introduction to special issue

Assessing Barriers To Health Care Services For Hispanic Residents In Rural Georgia, Michele Vitale, Conner Bailey

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Since the 1990s, many Hispanics have been relocating to the rural South and their permanency (although beneficial to the economy) poses new challenges at the institutional level. One area of major concern is the adequate provision of health care. Our article evaluates the socioeconomic, cultural, and geographic/transportation barriers that Hispanic residents face when seeking primary health care services in Toombs County, Georgia. Data were acquired through personal interviews with Hispanic residents, local health professionals, and key community informants by using a combination of opportunity sampling and a snowball approach. Results indicate that the local health system and the county as …

Ruptured Identity Of Male Farmers: Subjective Crisis And The Risk Of Suicide, Anthony Hogan, Edward Scarr, Stewart Lockie, Brett Chant, Sylvia Alston

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Suicide among male farmers is frequently discussed in the literature. While a wide range of factors are associated, a coherent theoretical framework that incorporates the various factors associated with male farmer suicide has not been developed. Moreover, the insights offered to date have not opened a more systemic approach to prevention. Drawing on substantive contributions from sociological theory, this paper proposes a framework for progressing understanding of the causes of this phenomenon and offers insights for prevention. The paper argues that ontological security is central to identity and social competence, and that loss of the coherency of identity and the …

Partnering To Enable Active Rural Living: Pearl Project, Deborah H. John, Barbara Mccahan, Suzanne Gaulocher

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural residents in communities face opportunities and obstaclesfor physical activity (PA), health, and wellbeing that differ from those experienced in non-rural settings. Yet, rural people’s interpretations of PA and experience of the PA environment are understudied. This study utilized a descriptive case study approach in three rural New Hampshire communities and engaged rural residents in community participatory action research of the experiential factors that enable or prevent PA for adults and youth in their communities. Qualitative data were collected using photo mapping surveys, participant observations, interviews, and focus groups, analyzed using a constant comparative method, and triangulated across multiple sources. …

The School Neighborhood Environment For Childhood Obesity In A Rural Texas Community, Jin Young Choi, David Pate

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper examines the school neighborhood environments related to childhood obesity in a rural community in Texas, focusing on the assessment of three aspects: socioeconomic characteristics, food environment, and physical activity environment. Different methodological approaches were employed to characterize the aspects of the school neighborhood environments. Most public schools in the community were located in low-income neighborhoods. There were disproportionately high concentrations of fast food restaurants and convenience stores within the active travel-to-school zone. Most of the students who lived in the active travel-to-school zone did not walk or bike to school, and student safety was identified as the predominant …

Rural Appalachian Health Care Providers' Perceived Barriers To Intimate Partner Violence Screening In Primary Care, Jamie Tedder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major problem in the United States. There are many health concerns associated with IPV (e.g. chronic pain, gynecological problems), leading researchers to examine the detection and management of IPV in primary care settings. However, a disproportionate amount of this research has focused on the detection and management of IPV in urban primary care clinics, with the detection and management of IPV in rural primary care being largely understudied. The current study addresses this gap in the literature by describing the screening practices and barriers to screening reported by rural providers as well as differences …

Constraints In Adoption Of Moongbean Production Technology In Sundarban, West Bengal, Ganesh Chandra

Ganesh Chandra

The new agricultural technologies are considered to be the prime mover to the process of agricultural development in India. Understanding farmers’ perceptions of a given technology is crucial in the generation and diffusion of new technologies and farm household information dissemination. Pulses in India have long been considered as the poor man’s only source of protein. Moongbean (green gram) is one of the important pulse crop in India, plays a major role in augmenting the income of small and marginal farmers of Sundarban. Constraints are the circumstances or causes, which prohibit farmer to adopt improved farm technology. This constraint study …

The Russian Village, Urban Infrastructure Issues, And The Vertically Integrated Agriculture Model, Phillip Imel

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Russia’s population total has been in decline since 1992 and this is most evident in the villages of Russia. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the large farm collectives, many villages’ raison d'être ceased to exist. Today people continue to leave the villages for what they consider to be the better economic promise of the larger cities. There are serious societal and infrastructure issues related to the village exodus to the larger municipalities. In this paper, a vertically integrated agriculture model is examined as one step towards a more vibrant village economy. A vertically integrated model based upon …

Coös County Youth And Out-Of-School Activities - Patterns Of Involvement And Barriers To Participation, Erin H. Sharp

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This fact sheet draws from surveys administered to a cohort of 416 participants in 7th grade in 2008, again when they were in 8th grade in 2009, and most recently as 10th graders in 2011 to look at patterns of participation in structured activities over time and whether male and female students differ in these patterns of participa¬tion. It also draws from questions added to the 2011 survey of 10th graders to examine Coös County youths’ perceptions about what kinds of barriers have kept them from getting more involved in structured out-of-school activities.

Author Erin Hiley Sharp reports that female …

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Nebraska appeared to survive the recent economic recession better than most other states. The state's unemployment rate has been one of the lowest in the nation in recent years. The agricultural economy has also been strong. Farm income levels reached record levels in 2010 and are expected to remain strong this year. Given the challenges and uncertainties of recent years, how do rural Nebraskans believe they are doing and how do they view their future? Have these views changed over the past sixteen years? How satisfied are they with various items that influence their well-being? How happy are rural Nebraskans? …

Animal Welfare: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

The manner in which food animals are produced, shipped and processed has been in the news lately. Specifically at question is whether or not current livestock practices adequately ensure the welfare of food animals. With a sizable animal agriculture production sector in the state of Nebraska, this is an important issue. How do rural Nebraskans feel about animal welfare issues? Do their opinions differ by age, education or their experience with livestock production? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 2,490 responses to the 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll, the sixteenth annual effort to understand rural …

Community Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Current Perceptions And Future Strategies: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Recent community level Census data show that most small communities in Nebraska experienced population decline since 2000. However, most of the larger communities experienced population growth during this same time period. Various economic development strategies could be employed by communities to grow their population and economies. Given these conditions, how do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided by their community? Are they planning to move from their community in the next year? Have these views changed over the past sixteen years? How do rural Nebraskans believe various economic development strategies would impact their …

The Digital Age: Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans’ Use Of Technology 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca Vogt, Randolph Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Connie I Reimers-Hild, PhD, CPC

Over the past decade, people have increasingly used the Internet for shopping, social networking, government services, learning and education. Are rural Nebraskans using the Internet for these applications? What do they believe are the benefits and drawbacks of these applications? In addition, people are increasingly using mobile devices to connect to the Internet. Are rural Nebraskans using their cell phones to access the Internet? This paper provides a detailed analysis of these questions. This report details 2,490 responses to the 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll, the sixteenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions …

Underemployment In Urban And Rural America, 2005-2012, Justin R. Young

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

Author Justin Young reports that underemployment (or involuntary part-time work) rates doubled during the second year of the recession, reaching roughly 6.5 percent in 2009. This increase was equally steep in both rural and urban places. By March of 2012, underemployment was slightly lower in rural places (4.8 percent) compared to urban places (5.3 percent). Prior to the recession, however, underemployment was slightly higher in rural America. Workers under age 30, as well as women, black, and Hispanic workers, continue to experience higher levels of underemployment. Underemployment is strongly linked with education, with the least educated workers experiencing higher rates …

Empowering Change: The Effects Of Energy Provision On Individual Aspirations In Slum Communities, Priti Parikh, Sankalp Chaturvedi, Gerard George

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper discusses the role of energy provision in influencing the social aspirations of people living in slums. We examine factors that influence the shift in aspirations in five slum settlements using data from 500 interviews conducted in serviced and non-serviced slums from the state of Gujarat in India. The non-serviced slums did not have access to basic services namely water, sanitation, energy, roads, solid waste and rainwater management. We find empirical evidence which suggests that when basic infrastructure provisions are met, slum dwellers shift their focus from lower order aspirations to the higher order aspirations like health, education, housing …

It Takes A Community: Civic Life And Community Involvement Among Coös County Youth, Justin R. Young

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This brief explores the extent to which Coös County youth are involved in a variety of civic-related activities, with particular attention to the demographic and attitudinal factors associated with such participation. Author Justin Young reports that approximately 75 percent of Coös County youth report involvement in at least one type of civic-related activity. The types of activities varied by year in school. Eighth grad¬ers were more involved in 4-H, Scouts, church groups, and community center events, while twelfth graders volunteered more often and participated in community-service clubs. Forty percent of youth volunteered within the past year, and a third are …

Prelude To A Master Plan: Ware, Massachusetts, Belen Alfaro, Bruno Carneiro, Margaret Engesser, Kathryn E. Fox, Evadne R. Friedman, Timothy Inacio, Anita Lockesmith, Christina Mills, Stephanie Molden, Meagen Mulherin, Russell Pandres, Vinicius Pereira, Brian Reid, Pedro Soto, Jennifer Stromsten

Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning Studio and Student Research and Creative Activity

Prelude to a Master Plan offers ideas, recommendations, and a toolkit to help the town chart its own path towards that future. While the teams and individual students worked to ‘drill down’ into specific topic areas, the Studio defined three basic areas in order to think about how the various assets, challenges and ideas undermine or reinforce one another. The report is loosely organized in those terms: addressing the outlying rural areas and issues specific to these places, considering one of the key growth areas that has extended from town and the conflicts that arise from the many uses occurring …

Changing The Very Fabric Of Society: A Case Study Of The Fundación Entre Mujeres Holistic Empowerment Model, Briana Frenchmore

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The women of rural northern Nicaragua live in a context that is shaped by the inequalities of gender and class that originate in machista culture and the dominant economic system. To confront this reality, the non-government organization, Fundación Entre Mujeres (FEM) works from the “Gender and Development” (GAD) approach using a model of holistic women’s empowerment. To create social change, FEM’s programs focus on ideological, economic, and organizational empowerment. This investigation seeks to understand how FEM carries out its holistic empowerment model within communities, while reflecting on the strengths of their methodology and the challenges they face in creating social …

Is It Really Just All About Sex And Money? A Case Study Of Teenage Motherhood In The Village Of Kwaximba In The Valley Of A 1,000 Hills, Margaret Nelson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The aim of this learnership at the Valley Trust was to gain insight into why teenage girls in the Valley of the 1,000 Hills fall pregnant and what is the cost of early motherhood on the future of young women. Previous research of the province KwaZulu-Natal has revealed that teenage pregnancies are a large problem in school districts and restricting the future academic pursuits of teenage mothers. The learner worked alongside the Valley Trust in coordination with their outreach programs in the local villages of the Valley of a 1,000 Hills to learn fundamental and underlying reasons behind teenage pregnancy …

Youths' Opinions About Their Opportunities For Success In Coös County Communities, Erin H. Sharp

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

This fact sheet examines Coös County youths’ beliefs about their access to educational and occupational opportunities in their home communities and whether these beliefs relate to their expectations for the future. To do so, author Erin Hiley Sharp draws on the Coös Youth Study data collected in 2011 from 318 eleventh graders in the public schools. Overall, Coös County youths’ opinions about the educational and occupational opportunities available in their home communities are somewhat positive but youths do perceive areas of concern. Youths’ perceptions of opportunities are fairly similar across the three regions of Coös County; however, those youths living …

Over Sixteen Million Children In Poverty In 2011, Marybeth J. Mattingly, Jessica A. Bean, Andrew P. Schaefer

The Carsey School of Public Policy at the Scholars' Repository

In this brief, authors Marybeth Mattingly, Jessica Bean, and Andrew Schaefer use American Community Survey data released on September 20, 2012 to address patterns of child poverty. To evaluate the changes in child poverty, they focused on two time periods -- change since 2007, as the nation entered the recession, and change since 2010. According to the American Community Survey, the overall child poverty rate for the United States rose slightly from 21.6 in 2010 to 22.5 percent in 2011, resulting in an estimated 16.4 million children living in poverty. Of these children, 6.1 million are young (under age 6). …

Lifting Spirits And Changing Lives: Analysis Of Outcomes From One Organizations Journey With Community-Based Research, Anna M. Kleiner, Sarah D. Walker

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, local nonprofit service providers in the Gulf Coast region faced numerous challenges responding to people’s immediate and long-term needs. Experiencing increased demand for services, limited resources, and vulnerability to future crises,several organizations commenced systematic planning, capacity development, and evaluation projects to help mitigate the effects of disaster and to promote long-term sustainability at the organizational and community levels. One such organization, Visions of Hope (VOH), Inc., in East Biloxi, Mississippi, participated in a collaborative community-based research (CBR) and evaluation process with a sociology, community development, and public health interdisciplinary team. Combining our academic and …

History As Community-Based Research And The Pedagogy Of Discovery: Teaching Racial Inequality, Documenting Local History, And Building Links Between Students And Communities In Mississippi And Tennessee, Spencer D. Wood, Ricardo Samuel

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In this article we describe the process of implementing a community-based research project that linked student learning with documenting elements of local histories surrounding the civil rights movement in Mississippi and Tennessee. We show that developing a dialogue among community members, ourselves, and our students worked to democratize the research project, produce strong support among the community members, and contribute to an improved understanding of racial inequality for our students. We rely on our accounts of the process, student journals, and oral histories compiled during the research. Our findings show that there are considerable opportunities for community-based research around documenting …

Imagination Enviro-Station: Students Connecting Students To Ecological Sustainability, David Burley, Natalie Shelton, Chris Daunis, Jessica Cuifi, Jamie Walker, Maria Coleman, Bertha-Fabianna Matheu

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The development of an environmental identity is viewed by many as essential if we are to reorganize our societies toward ecological sustainability (Bell 2009; Clayton and Opotow 2003; Thomashow 2002). That, along with an eye toward environmental justice, was the major impetus for our graduate seminar in applied environmental sociology to partner with an elementary school in our small city of Hammond, LA, during the spring semester of 2010. After conducting focus groups with a group of fourth to sixth grade students and holding decision-making discussions with them for this community-based research (CBR) project, we went about two projects – …

Insider, Outsider, Or Somewhere Between: The Impact Of Researchers’ Identities On The Community-Based Research Process, Katie Kerstetter

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Sociologists and qualitative researchers have engaged in an extensive debate about the merits of researchers being “outsiders” or “insiders” to the communities they study. Recent research has attempted to move beyond a strict outsider/insider dichotomy to emphasize the relative nature of researchers' identities, depending on the specific research context. Using the Institute for Community-Based Research in Mississippi as a case study, this article presents findings from qualitative interviews with academic researchers and community partners involved in four different research projects. These findings examine how researchers and community partners characterize researchers’ identities and the impact that those identities have on the …

Community-Based Research And The Two Forms Of Social Change, Randy Stoecker

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

As community-based research (CBR) takes hold in academic settings, where there is vast expertise in producing research but a dearth of experience in producing practical outcomes, there is a risk that CBR will produce little of consequence. This paper begins by arguing that part of the problem is the result of CBR practitioners assuming that research is, in itself, causal. Yet it is only when research is embedded in an effective overall social change strategy that it matters. The present paper develops a model specifying the role of research in both local and broader social change strategies. The overall model …

Increasing Community Participation With Self-Organizing Meeting Processes, Philip H. Howard

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Involving many people in community-based research provides many benefits, such as more labor power and increased buy-in. Traditional meeting formats, however, are not well suited to attracting broad engagement. One way to address this challenge is to instead employ self-organizing meeting processes, which are designed to invite active participation from attendees, and do not predefine the agenda. This article describes three such processes, 1) Open Space Technology, 2) World Café, and 3) Dynamic Facilitation, followed by my observations on their advantages and disadvantages when employed in community-based research efforts. Their use requires giving up a great amount of control when …

Frans Schryer, Farming In A Global Economy: A Case Study Of Immigrant Farmers In Canada, Cornelia Butler Flora

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Review of Farming in a Global Economy: A Case Study of Immigrant Farmers in Canada, by Frans Schryer

Community-Based Research: Analysis Of Outcomes For Learning And Social Change: An Introduction, Anna M. Kleiner, Katie Kerstetter, John J. Green

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Broadly defined, community-based research (CBR) is a process of conducting research that embraces and integrates the participation and local knowledge of people in communities and organizations with the goal of informing efforts to achieve social change. Although several publications on CBR exist, they primarily focus on processes, methods, and tools for developing and implementing CBR projects. This special issue of the Journal of Rural Social Sciences builds from that knowledge base, analyzes the outcomes of real-world CBR projects, and assesses learning outcomes for students, faculty, organizations, and community residents. This introduction to the special issue provides an overview of the …