Rural Sociology Commons^™

New Traditions: Retrospective And Prospective, G. Richard Wetherill

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Community Development In Rural America: Sociological Issues In National Policy, Kenneth P. Wilkinson

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Definitions of the concepts of rural, community, and development suggest problems for a policy of rural community development. An effective policy must address two barriers to development of community among residents of rural areas: 1) deficits in access to resources for meeting common needs and 2) severe inequalities in access to resources that are available. Rurality encourages community development when these barriers are low. The aim of policy should be to attack rural barriers while cultivating rural potentials for community development.

Satisfaction Among Ecological Management Workers, Theodore D. Fuller, Donald J. Shoemaker

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper explores levels and correlates of job satisfaction for a series of occupations concerned with ecological management in Virginia. To enhance job satisfaction, a careful balance must be maintained between organizational requirements and individual needs. Fortunately, organizational factors over which the manager can exert considerable control (specially, dimensions of bureaucratization) are more consistently related to job satisfaction than are individual factors (extent of job training, evaluation of job training, education, and job tenure).

Agricultural Service Firms: Organizational Characteristics And Linkages To Production Agriculture, Thomas A. Lyson

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Using data from the 1978 Census of Agriculture and the 1978 Census of Agricultural Services, this paper examines some of the organizational characteristics of firms in seven agricultural service industry subgroups. Using the 48 contiguous states as units of analysis, an ecological analysis attempts to identify structure characteristics of farm systems that give rise to, and foster development of, off-farm agricultural service firms. Results show that considerable variation exists in the organizational and labor force characteristics across the seven industry subgroups. Other findings indicate that the spread of agricultural services in a state is positively associated with the proportion of …

Agrarian And Political Attitudes Among Small-Scale Farmers: A North Carolina Case Study, Michael D. Schulman, Regina Luginbuhl

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper examines the agrarian and political attitudes of a sample of predominantly black, small-scale farmers from three North Carolina counties. Factor analysis identifies agrarian (agrarianism) and political-economic attitudes (socio-political powerlessness and stratification system illegitimacy). Regression analysis identifies the social bases of agrarianism and its relationship to socio-political powerlessness and stratification system illegitimacy. Agrarianism has a differential impact upon the legitimation of economic and political inequalities among this regionally specific segment of small farm strata.

Adoption Of Irrigation Technology: The Effects Of Personal, Structural, And Environmental Variables, Don E. Albrecht, Howard Ladewig

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

During the past decade, there has been a growing interest in expanding the list of factors affecting the adoption and diffusion of agricultural technology. It has been suggested that most previous research efforts have been insensitive to contextual variables and institutional constraints. The physical environment has been suggested as one contextual variable that has been largely ignored in past adoption-diffusion research. The present study tested for the relative effects of a site-specific indicator of the physical environment (saturated thickness), as well as personal attributes and farm structural characteristics for the adoption of irrigation innovations in the Texas High Plains. The …

Comments On "Some Observations On Rural Sociology And Its Prospects", Kenneth P. Wilkinson

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Some Observations On Rural Sociology And Its Prospects, R. J. Hildreth

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Rural sociology developed largely in the land grant-USDA complex. The current status of rural sociology is briefly examined. The new agenda of rural sociologists probably will include such areas as sociology of agriculture, sociology of natural resources. and the sociology of development and economic change. The environment in which sociology will work on its new agenda, the land grant-USDA complex, is in disarray. The causes of the disarray are various academic chauvinisms. Chauvinism of philosophic orientation, disciplines, administrative structures, and academic excellence create the need for a new covenant for academe to serve society. Modest suggestions for rural sociology include …

Rural Sociology Research In The Land Grant Setting, Preston E. La Ferney

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

A brief historical view of rural sociology as a discipline reveals an intense introspection--a preoccupation--with the role, identity, image, effectiveness, and contribution of rural sociologists and their research in the land grant setting. As one outside the discipline, the author examines the history of rural sociology and the current and/or perceived role of rural sociologists in Agricultural Experiment Station research. Finally, some perceptions are offered as to possible ways in which the discipline might improve overall effectiveness within the land grant community.

Our Authors, James H. Copp

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Acknowledgement, James H. Copp

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Notes From The Editorial Office (Volume 34, Issue 2), John J. Green

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Notes from the Editorial Office for Volume 34, Issue 2

Pathways For Equity In Development: Exploring The Past And Informing The Future Through The Rural Social Sciences, John J. Green

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In reflecting on the fiftieth anniversary of the Southern Rural Sociological Association (SRSA) and planning for the next fifty years, this SRSA Presidential Address focuses on development. Rural social scientists have the potential to contribute to the pursuit of great equity in development, and examples are shared from applied research experience in Mississippi.

Queen Nanny, A Case Study For Cultural Heritage Tourism: The Archaeology Of Memory And Identity, Lacy Risner

Liberal Arts Capstones

This research project is intended to provide a foundation of knowledge of the Maroon culture in Jamaica, through the legends of one of their most prominent founders, Queen Nanny, as an aid for those who want to educate themselves before approaching community leaders about tourism development. Documentation of Queen Nanny’s life is contested and shrouded in mystery. Yet, that is part of what makes her memory so powerful. The various roles that Queen Nanny is associated with feature her adamant pursuit of an independent life for herself and her Maroons. Whether she is catching bullets or teaching the Maroons how …

Perceptions Of Local Leaders In Shale Energy Communities: Views On Influence, Inclusion, And Trust (A Research Note), Gene L. Theodori, Karen M. Douglas

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Data collected from random samples of residents and absentee landowners in two counties in the Eagle Ford Shale region of South Texas were used to examine the perceptions regarding influence, inclusion, and trust of local leaders and other stakeholders in the area. Additionally, two hypotheses pertaining to the association between individuals’ perceptions of inclusion by local governments—both city and county—and individuals’ levels of trust in those governments as sources of information about the positive and negative impacts of shale oil and/or natural gas development were tested and supported. Substantive descriptive and statistical analyses are reported.

Childhood Abuse, Religiosity, And Opioid Use: Findings From The National Epidemiologic Survey On Alcohol And Related Conditions Data, James E. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Religiosity is adopting a belief system surrounding concepts of purpose, meaning, and value through an institution that has already defined these concepts prior to the individual member attending and that member’s degree of participation. Religiosity does have protective factors against negative health outcomes. This protective influence was evaluated in this study. Data from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions were examined to learn about the relationship between protective effects of religious participation on substance abuse, and whether this association weakened for individuals who have experienced higher levels of childhood abuse. A binary logistic regression …

The Relationship Between Length Of Community Tenure And Residents’ Volunteering At Community Events: Results From The Metro Atlanta Speaks Survey, Ramesh Ghimire, Jim Skinner

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Volunteering at community events could be associated with length of community tenure as residents with longer years of “tenure” might have a greater sense of community belonging, greater social capital (e.g. social networks and trust), and greater familiarity with regional cultures, compared to new residents. Using the Metro Atlanta Speaks survey conducted in 2015 and 2016, this study finds that residents’ volunteering at community events is significantly and positively associated with their length of community tenure in metro Atlanta counties. Other sociodemographic characteristics, such as age, gender, education, income, and children in the household also significantly influence residents’ volunteering at …

Use Of The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (Moca) In A Rural Outreach Program For Military Veterans, Michelle M. Hilgeman, Eugenia M. Boozer, A. Lynn Snow, Rebecca S. Allen, Lori L. Davis

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a free, easily accessible screener ideal for rural areas where resources are limited. We examined administration and scoring by Veteran Community Outreach Health Workers (VCOHWs); compared positive screening rates using two cutoff scores; and examined predictors of education-adjusted scores in N = 168 rural military Veterans from the Alabama Veteran Rural Health Initiative. Accuracy of administration (95 percent) and scoring (68 percent) was calculated and recommendations are offered. Higher than expected rates of positive screens were observed (40 percent using 24/30 cutoff) in this relatively young (M = 55 years) community-dwelling sample. Age, education, …

A Comparative Assessment Of Climate Change Related Knowledge And Perception Of Coastal And Tribal Community, Kirti K Kalinga, Navaneeta Rath

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Climate change is a global problem with local ramifications. It supposed to impact all nations and states across borders. But the way it is perceived by different stakeholders varies. Perception towards climate change matters because it will shape the way knowledge is framed and risk is calculated. It is also important to examine the knowledge of those people who are affected the most due to climate change. The present paper tries to understand the perception of farmers on climate change. As agriculture is one of the most climate sensitive sectors, it becomes pertinent here to explore are the farmers aware …

An Examination Of The Characteristics And Perceptions Of School Resource Officers In Rural And Urban Oklahoma Schools, Valerie H. Hunt, Melissa A. Taylor, Brett Fitzgerald, Eric D. Button, Brinck Kerr

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Fueled by concerns about school violence, the number of School Resource Officers (SROs) in the United States has soared. SROs are law enforcement officers who work in elementary and secondary schools and who are tasked to increase school safety. As of 2016, 48 percent of US public schools had SROs, compared to less than one percent in the 1970s, yet there are few studies that measure their effects. In particular, the literature largely ignores rural/urban differences. This study uses survey data from SROs working in public schools in Oklahoma to understand their roles and to determine if there are differences …

The United Nations Declaration On The Rights Of Peasants And Other People Working In Rural Areas, Marc Edelman, Priscilla Claeys

Publications and Research

In December 2018, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. UNDROP is the product of 17 years of struggle by La Via Campesina, other transnational agrarian movements and allies that included NGOs, states, UN mandate holders, and academics. It recognises the dignity of rural populations, their contributions to global food production, and their ‘special relationship’ to land, water and nature, as well as their vulnerabilities to eviction, hazardous working conditions and political repression. It reiterates rights protected in other instruments and sets new standards for individual and collective rights …

Cafe Erc Nasis Survey Questions 2019 Winter Report, Julia Mcquillan

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

Using NSF ERC Planning Grant funds ($7,500), we added X number of survey items to the 2019 Winter Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS) conducted by the Bureau of Sociological Research (BOSR). In 2019 NASIS was conducted by mail. BOSR mailed surveys to a random sample of Nebraska households using Address Based Sampling. The CAFE ERC planning team added questions to NASIS along with other researchers at the University of Nebraska who shared the cost of the “core” questions (e.g. level of education, age, race/ethnicity, depression, religion, political orientation, quality-of-life topics, etc). Overall NASIS is a cost-effective way to collect …

Panel 5 Paper 5.1 Egyptian Rural Practices: Living Heritage And Musealization, Mohamed Badry Kamel Basuny Amer M.A.

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Rural heritage is a complicated cultural knowledge. Considering the visitors who come, to the living heritage sites, spending their spare time and at the same time, to get a piece of new knowledge in a nostalgic context, the heritage exhibition is the ideal EDUTAINMENTAL deliverable that could transmit the rural heritage knowledge using the interactive thinking methodology. The former approach creates a kind of curiosity for the visitors guaranteeing the life-long learning process. Therefore, reviewing the cultural significance of intangible cultural heritage, especially the manifestations of the rural socio-cultural heritage practices, the research paper aims at presenting a new aspect …

Clues To Rural Community Survival, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Myths about the future of small towns:

- Towns that are "too small" have no future

- A community's location is key to its survival

- Industrial recruitment is the best strategy for economic development

- Small towns can't compete in the global economy

- The "best people" leave small towns as soon as they can

- The rural and urban economies are not independent

Panel 1 Paper 1.3: Le Paysage Rural Patrimonial, Outil Et Projet Au Service De La Lutte Contre Le Réchauffement Climatique, Régis Ambroise

ISCCL Scientific Symposia and Annual General Meetings // Symposiums scientifiques et assemblées générales annuelles de l'ISCCL // Simposios científicos yy las Asambleas Generales Anuales

Cette intervention fait référence au paragraphe de la résolution19GA 2017/30 du Conseil International des Monuments et des Sites indiquant que « la 19° Assemblée générale de l’ICOMOS… salue l’adoption de l’accord de Paris et encourage tous les membres de l’ICOMOS à renforcer leurs efforts pour appuyer sa mise en œuvre et identifier les réponses qui s’appuient sur le patrimoine ou les paysages culturels… ». Elle prend l’exemple de la façon dont les paysages de terrasses ont été abordés ces dernières années dans trois situations différentes : en France, dans le Guizhou en Chine et dans le Priorat en Espagne.

En …

Onaga, Kansas, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Leadership, entrepreneurship, wealth retention and youth development are all pieces of the recent successes of Onaga, Kansas, a very rural community of 704 people. Driving down Kansas Highway 16 and seeing the sign “Onaga, next five exits” would make you think it’s a large town. Indeed, it isn’t. But it’s the brainstorm of community developers who propose that adding such a series of signs would encourage more travelers to stop in.

“Onaga has a lot of assets that other communities would die for!” That is the sentiment of the part-time community development specialist for Onaga. This kind of sentiment is …

St. Paris, Ohio, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

On the surface, St. Paris, Ohio, (population about 2,000) looks like hundreds of other small Midwestern farm towns—quiet and pleasant—a nice town to drive through on a Sunday afternoon. Like many communities, the town has enjoyed a “gentle growth” of about 4 % over the past ten years.

But underneath that traditional exterior, a persistent entrepreneurial spirit breeds new business with an aggressiveness that can be felt from the coffee shop to the farms that surround the town. Like many small towns in west-central Ohio, St. Paris enjoys a very diverse economic base that would be the envy of other …

Flathead Reservation, Montana, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Looking out the window of a crowded office in Polson, Montana, one can picture a tipi village where the employee parking lot is now—a combination tourist attraction and outdoor sales show room for the traditional Plains-style tipis made by a local company that markets them throughout the nation. The company owner, and the person with the idea for selling the tipis, is a Native American who is a “serial” entrepreneur—someone who has started several businesses over time, then sells them off and starts another.

The Flathead Indian Reservation, which occupies more than one million acres from Montana’s scenic Flathead Lake …

Rangeland Management During Drought: Assessing Social-Ecological And Cognitive Indicators Of Ranchers’ Adaptive Capacity, Tonya Haigh

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Rangeland managers face challenges to adapt to climate extremes, and research is needed on how to support their adaptive capacity for managing climate risk. This study evaluates adaptive capacity using an integrated vulnerability and resilience conceptual model and three cognitive behavioral models. Overarching research questions focus on the relationship between protective action and impacts and the best predictors of taking action in response to drought. Three studies address these questions, using quantitative data collected from two post-drought surveys of rangeland-based livestock managers in the Northern Great Plains of the U.S. The studies find evidence of the roles of social-ecological sources …

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (Nasis) 2019 Methodology Report, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

Introduction 3

Mode Selection 3

Design and Item Selection 3

Sampling Design 4

Experimental Design Treatment 4

Data Collection Process 5

Response Rate 5

Data-Entry Training, Supervision, and Quality Control 5

Processing of Completed Surveys 6

Data Cleaning 6

NASIS Sample Weights 6

Design Effects 7

Questions 7

Estimate of Sampling Error 10

Appendices 11

Appendix A: Cover Letters and NASIS 2019 FAQ 11

First Mailing – Version 1 (UNL Logo) 11

FAQ – Version 1 (UNL Logo) 13

FAQ – Version 2 (New UN Logo) 14

Second Mailing – Version 1 (UNL Logo) 15

Second Mailing – Version 2 …