Regional Sociology Commons^™

South Dakota County Population Trends : Population Estimates And Components Of Change, April 1, 2020 - July 1, 2025, Weiwei Zhang

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Well-being Project Reports

DOI: 10.62812//GRRV1852

Interactive map:  https://arcg.is/1jeTb83

This report is in relation to this interactive map that shows how population change varied across South Dakota’s 66 counties between April 1, 2020 and July 1, 2025. It distinguishes overall population gain or loss and the demographic components behind those changes: natural change—births minus deaths—and net migration—people moving into a county minus those moving out.

Overview: 
South Dakota’s population increased from an April 1, 2020 estimates base of 886,656 to 935,094 on July 1, 2025, a gain of 48,438 residents, or 5.5%. This base-to-2025 growth rate ranked 13th among the 50 states. Measured instead …

South Dakota Newcomers Survey Report, Weiwei Zhang, Kara Harders

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Well-being Project Reports

Project Overview:
 While more populous states typically attract larger numerical influxes from other states and abroad, South Dakota has nevertheless experienced growth in immigrants, both from other states and internationally. In 2024, South Dakota State University Extension launched a state-wide Newcomer Survey to gain a better understanding of the newcomer population. Following prior work in Minnesota and Montana, the South Dakota Newcomers Survey was developed to collect data about the motivations that drive people to move to South Dakota, what they enjoy once moved, what they want more or less of, and ultimately what makes them want to, or not …

The Impacts Of Brookings Health System On The Economy Of Brookings County And Rural Health In South Dakota, Weiwei Zhang

Center for Rural Vitality and Community Well-being Project Reports

Project Overview:

Located in Brookings County, South Dakota, Brookings Health System (Brookings Health) is a vital economic and healthcare hub, providing crucial employment and access to care. This assessment provides a comprehensive evaluation of the profound impacts of Brookings Health on the county economy, and the accessibility and affordability of healthcare services to rural populations in the surrounding areas. Rural community hospitals serve as foundational drivers of local economies. Their operations necessitate a substantial local workforce, encompassing a wide array of positions from clinical to administrative, representing a considerable labor expense. Indeed, numerous hospitals rank among the premier individual employers …

Why Do High-Achieving Women Feel Like Frauds? Intersecting Identities And The Imposter Phenomenon, Nicole Lounsbery

Great Plains Sociologist

The imposter phenomenon is a concept used to characterize the presence of intense feelings of intellectual fraudulence, particularly among high-achieving women. Researchers have tried to explain not only why this phenomenon occurs, but why it is more prevalent in highly successful women. This study predicts that the intersection of gender with race, class, and parental educational attainment contributes to women’s feelings of fraudulence. Clance Imposter Phenomenon Scale (CIPS) scores were used to determine the effects of identity variables on imposter feelings in a sample of 403 female graduate students. Results indicate a strongly positive relationship between Native American identity and …

Book Review: Thinking The Unthinkable: The Riddle Of Classical Social Theories By Charles Lemert, Thomas C. Langham

Great Plains Sociologist

Lemert, Charles. Thinking the Unthinkable: TheRiddle of Classical Social Theories. Boulder, CO: Paradigm, 2007. 195 pp. $60.00 cloth, $22.95 paper.

Midwest Consumers’ Beliefs And Attitudes Regarding Agricultural Biotechnology: An Executive Summary, Ronald G. Stover, Donna A. Hess, Gary Goreham, George A. Youngs, Stephen G. Sapp

Great Plains Sociologist

As part of a project investigating the social, economic, and ethical issues related to the application of biotechnology to food production and to the adoption or rejection of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), we conducted a survey using a questionnaire mailed to a randomly selected sample of consumers in five Midwestern states—Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. This report highlights the responses of the 458 respondents to that completed and returned questionnaire.

Agricultural Producers’ Use Of Genetically Modified Organisms, Michael E. Lawson, Donna A. Hess, Satoko Hirai

Great Plains Sociologist

A random sample of agricultural producers from North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin is used to examine producers’ decisions to use or not use genetically modified organisms. Using the rational choice theoretical framework to guide analyses, the associations between proportion of genetically modified corn acres grown by agricultural producers and perceived cost, perceived risk, and perceived benefit. Results indicated that 1) perceived cost was significantly, negatively associated with proportion of GM corn acres planted; 2) perceived risk was significantly, negatively associated with proportion of GM corn acres planted; and 3) perceived benefit was significantly, positively associated with proportion …

Multicultural Education: Work Yet To Be Done, A. Olu Oyinlade

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper brings to the surface for review, discussion, and debate, some critical issues for which multicultural education specialists need to provide useful theoretical frameworks that may guide our explanations to these issues. With the embracing of the ideology of multicultural education in the United States, practically every institution of formal learning, from the grade school to the university, is rapidly subscribing or has already subscribed to multicultural curricula. By embracing the multicultural agenda, educational institutions are demonstrating a commitment to broadening students' views of American subcultures (and world cultures). By exposing students to these subcultures, their histories, experiences and …

Challenges Of Good Governance In Post-Conflict Liberia, Kebba Darboe

Great Plains Sociologist

Drawing on Max Weber’s theory of bureaucracy, this paper employs a conceptual framework to examine the challenges of good governance in post-conflict Liberia. Good governance is the sound exercise of administrative authority to manage a country’s resources for development (Astillero and Mangahas, 2002). Government, a pre-condition to governance, is the dominant decision-making arm of a given state. From 1989 to 1996, and 1999 to 2003, Liberia, a West African country, was involved in two civil wars which destroyed most of its’ social institutions. Study reveals that the challenges to good governance are political, administrative, and economic.

Dramaturgical History: The Roman Triumph, Gabe Kilzer

Great Plains Sociologist

This paper examines an ancient Roman ceremony, the Triumph, and explains the effect this ritual had on Roman civilization during the Empire and the effects it still has on our historical interpretation of that society. Using Erving Goffman’s theory of dramaturgy, I compare the leaders of Rome to actors on a stage playing to an audience. In this paper, I argue that the Triumph, which was a ceremony dedicated to the creation of a “God amongst men” in a conquering general, fueled a reciprocal relationship between the actions of society and the way in which we remember the Empire. Achieving …

Front Matter

Great Plains Sociologist

Front matter
Table of contents

How Does Class Status Influence Perceptions Of Individual Mental Health?, Brie Willert

Great Plains Sociologist

Individuals in lower socioeconomic classes are said to have higher stress levels than those in higher classes, which in turn causes poor mental health for these individuals. Studies have shown that low income is associated with both low life evaluation and low emotional well-being. The present study worked to find support for this theory using the research question: How does class status influence perceptions of individual mental health? This study uses data from the 2010 General Social Survey (N= 1149) in which individuals between 18-89 years of age participated. Analyses of the results through multiple regression suggested individuals in lower …

Factors Of Academic Misconduct: Polish And Russian Students’ Attitudes, Marina Makarova

Great Plains Sociologist

The main factors of students’ cheating, such as individual and contextual factors are considered in this article. The institutional level of contextual factors exercises the most significant influence on academic misconduct and corruption in the academic field. There are factors of social microenvironment and normative backgrounds, which assume such forms of behavior as considered normal and obvious. In 2015 surveys of students from a Russian and a Polish university were conducted. Polish and Russian students have the same attitudes about cheating, which in both countries is part of the student culture. There are many similarities in the individual factors of …

Bullying Victimization As A Predictor Of Suicidality Among South Dakota Adolescents: A Secondary Data Analysis Using The 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, Trenton Ellis, Breanna Brass

Great Plains Sociologist

Bullying is a form of peer victimization with a well-established link to suicidality among adolescents in the United States (Holt et al. 2015). Few studies focus explicitly on examining bullying at the state-level, including South Dakota. We argue that state-level data are valuable for policymakers wishing to better understand adolescent bullying and suicidality at a local level. Using a secondary data analysis of 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from South Dakota and U.S. samples, this study provided a description of bullying victimization and suicidality in South Dakota and tested bullying victimization as a predictor of suicidality among adolescents in …

Tsunami 2004, India And International Impacts, International Disaster Management, Tania Arseculeratne, Austin Ritch, Russell Wicklund

Great Plains Sociologist

This article studies the international impacts of the 2004 tsunami event in India. Among the four main phases of emergency management, what are the local and international impacts of the 2004 tsunami event focusing on India? The study is divided into two main categories: Natural Aspect; and Cultural and Administrative Aspect. Within the Natural Aspect are the natural cascading events leading up to and following the event and the requirements/intensity levels for qualifying to compare with the actual data of the event. Within the Cultural and Administrative Aspect are the man-made international impacts such as economic, cultural, and political. India …

Case Studies In The Development Of Reliable And Valid Social Problems Source Data, Rich Braunstein

Great Plains Sociologist

Keynote Address for the 2016 Great Plains Sociological Association Annual Conference

Editor's Note

Great Plains Sociologist

Editor’s Note

Book Review: Evicted: Poverty And Profit In The American City By Matthew Desmond, Alan Fejzic

Great Plains Sociologist

Desmond, M. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City . New York: Crown Publishers, 2016. 432 pp. $28.00 paperback.

Book Review: Assigned: Life With Gender Edited By Lisa Wade With Douglas Hartmann And Christopher Uggen, William T. Cockrell

Great Plains Sociologist

Wade, Lisa (Editor) with Douglas Hartmann and Christopher Uggen (Series Editors). Assigned: Life with Gender (The Society Pages). New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2017. 272 pp. $15.00 paper.

Understanding The Importance Of Leadership In Rural Communities, Owino Jonix, Mariah Bartholomay, Mitchell Calkins

Great Plains Sociologist

This research project attempts to provide a better understanding of how rural leaders emerge, the kinds of activities in which they are involved, and how they address the challenges they face. Rural communities tend to be at risk for public issues that may rise, which are central to the micro-levels of leadership roles and opportunities. Individuals who hold or have held leadership positions were interviewed, and a better understanding of the different stages throughout their leadership careers and the overall cycle of leadership within their rural Minnesota community was investigated. This study creates a preliminary model to be used for …

Mixed Feelings: Identity Development Of Biracial People, Ronald Ferguson

Great Plains Sociologist

Multiracial people traditionally have been categorized as monoracial, thus creating limitations to their identity development (Gibbs 1987; Davis 1991). However, recent societal shifts concerning race have left mixed race individuals with an array of racial identity choices (Huffman 1994; Townsend et al. 2012). To explore such a phenomenon, this study consisted of in-depth interviews with 15 adult Biracial respondents on questions surrounding their experiences as a mixed-race person. The results indicate that Biracial persons come to develop a variety of distinctive racial identities ranging from monoracial to Multiracial. Additionally, the respondents identified three distinct stages in their development of a …

Bureaucracy, Demography, And Midwest Sociology, Boyd Litterell, Larry T. Reynolds, Rachel Campbell

Great Plains Sociologist

This article proposes a framework for analyzing the impact of social change on universities, using Midwestern states to flesh out the perspective. The framework draws together political, economic and, demographic changes by using the concept of bureaucratic organizations. More specifically, it uses the notions of the internal and the external environments of universities as organizations to examine the impact of societal change upon universities in general and, by extension, on sociologists’ knowledge. The internal environment is viewed as the administrative effort to rationalize the external and internal environments with programmatic changes. The central concerns here are financial control and privatization. …

Editor's Note

Great Plains Sociologist

Editor's Note

Human Development And The Hiv/Aids Epidemic In Sub-Saharan Africa, Manfred Wogugu

Great Plains Sociologist

The adoption of both the biomedical and socio-behavioral approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in a significant drop in mortality. However, there is a need to take into account and address the structural inequalities of limited access to employment, education, and affordable health care; gender disparity, poverty and the disease environment in order to accelerate the tempo of this decline. Applying the social inequality framework, and using the various Inequality-adjusted Human Development indices (IHDI) by the Atkinson index, a descriptive analysis of data from the statistical annex to the 2011 UNDP Development Report was undertaken to factor …

Perceptions Of The Research Climate In Universities And National Research Institutes: The Role Of Gender And Bureaucracy In Three Low-Income Countries, B. Paige Miller, Heather M. Rackin, Wesley Shrum, Mark Schafer, Antony Palackal

Great Plains Sociologist

This article examines the relationship between sex and sector of employment and perceptions of the research climate among a sample of researchers in three lowincome areas: Ghana, Kenya, and Kerala India. Using data gathered in 2010 from scientists working in universities and national research institutes, we address the following questions: 1) Are there differences in men’s and women’s assessment of the research environment in terms of their satisfaction with funding, ratings of problems associated with communication and coordination, and sense of autonomy? 2) Do contextual factors— primarily sector of employment but also controlling for home region—account for these differences? 3) …

“It’S Just A Girl Thing”; The Feminization Of Work Groups And The Effect Of Numerical Composition On Group Hierarchy, Miriam E. Verploegh

Great Plains Sociologist

Women have recently shown higher rates of attendance and graduation in college, a reversal of a long-standing educational status quo that could alter gender relations in society. Given recent trends of female achievement in higher education, how will this shift in gender composition shape processes of stratification in academic work settings? To answer this question, this study looked at 78 videos men and women working in three person groups, who had been videotaped for a previous laboratory study. Examination of these videos provided the qualitative data to investigate how group composition and gender shapes stratification within academic groups. Systematic observation …

A Graphic Representation Of The Minnesota Dakota Diaspora, Ronald G. Stover

Great Plains Sociologist

By the early 1800s, the Sioux of the upper Great Plains had divided into three main sub-divisions: the Dakota, the Nakota, and the Lakota. The Dakota occupied most of the territory now known as the state of Minnesota. Throughout the 1800s, they were slowly deprived of much of that territory. By the end of the 1800s, they had not only lost most of their land, they had lost the legal right to live in Minnesota. This manuscript presents a graphic representation of that diaspora.

Using Humor With Dying And Bereaved Children, Gerry Cox

Great Plains Sociologist

Both adults and children may suffer from complicated grief. Strategies that are effective for adults often do not work as well for children. Individuals suffering from complicated grief typically feel overwhelmed, unable to adapt, engage in behavior that is repetitive, or experience extensive interruptions of the healing process that abnormally lengthens their grieving. For children, complicated grief may be presented by the complete absence of grief reactions. Although many strategies exist to aid those suffering from complicated grief, the use of humor may be used to aid both children and adults be more receptive to other forms of grief management. …

Society And The Individual: A Theoretical Exploration Of The Contemporary Era, Daniel Bartholomay

Great Plains Sociologist

The theoretical discussion of the relationship between society and the individual is fundamental to the field of sociology. A shift into the contemporary era of social theory begins to accredit the individual with a greater sense of agency in terms of interacting with and recognizing the impact of structures rather than being unconsciously controlled by them. The following work discusses the positions held by seminal contemporary theorists regarding the relationship between the individual and society. A comparative analysis among a number of the theorists highlights similarities and differences in approaches and illuminates the core concepts, terminology and theoretical perspectives generated …

A Comparative Approach To Promotional Methods For Seasonal Influenza Immunizations To Dorm Dwelling College Freshmen, Gina Aalgaard Kelly, Carolyn Townsend

Great Plains Sociologist

Introduction: Comparing tailored e-mail messaging to mailed postcards promoting seasonal influenza immunizations for dorm dwelling college freshmen is important for early health prevention and promotion. Dorm dwelling college students are particularly at risk of viral diseases due to the close proximity of their living conditions. Understanding influences with health care decisions and practices is therefore also important with the college dorm dwelling population. Method: A convenience sample was used to collect data from influenza clinic participants on a Midwest college campus over three seasonal flu periods. A Health-E card was sent in 2010 via university issued student e-mail accounts informing …