Rural Sociology Commons^™

Revisiting Rural Education Access, Elizabeth Wargo, Ian Hoke

Educational Considerations

Drawing on a contemporary construction of rurality, which acknowledges rural education amplified by technology, we capture two examples where online mathematics resources were used in a rural middle school setting. As such we examine issues and consider rural education access as it is changed with technology towards a more nuanced understanding of rural contexts necessary to inform future rural education policy, practice, and research.

“Sometimes It’S More Valuable Than Money:” Using Stories And Local Knowledge To Document Impacts Of Wild Harvesting, Sarah Hultine Massengale, Mary Hendrickson

Urban Food Systems Symposium

Self-procurement strategies such as gardening, hunting, and wild harvesting are often overlooked in the development of local and regional food systems because the informal exchanges of these foods do not contribute to traditional financial impacts (McEntee 2011). Research conducted between 2017-2018 in the Missouri Ozarks partnered with wild harvesters and used narrative inquiry and critical reflection to explore the practice of wild harvesting, motivations for food access strategies, and the comprehensive wealth impacts of wild harvesting in the region. Comprehensive wealth, a USDA –Economic Research Service framework, provides a tool for economic development that considers multiple forms of capital and …

Aging In Rural Communities: Older Persons’ Narratives Of Relocating In Place To Maintain Rural Identity, Joyce Weil

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

Literature often looks at older persons’ rural-to-urban moves, but relocation within the same region is less explored. The purpose of this study is to understand the perspectives of older persons who move to age in town in the same rural setting. Using data from 16 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with older persons in a rural community and directed content analysis, this study examines these older persons’ assessments of their current living situation, still seen as living rurally but now in a more populous location. Although moving within a rural environment, for different reasons, they do not report feelings of being “stuck …

Harper County 2013-2014 Community View Assessment, Shannon L. Dick M.S., Debra J. Bolton Phd., Megan Ferrell

NPP eBooks

Introduction

In 2012, Harper County Commissioners engaged K-State Research and Extension and Western Kansas Statistical Lab to survey county residents for data that would paint a clearer picture of attitudes and desires around life, work, and recreation. The resultant data, its analyses, and subsequent narratives were intended to illuminate reasons why people leave or choose to remain in this south central Kansas County bordering Oklahoma.

Methodology

The areas of focus were Anthony, Harper, Attica, and “other” locales within the county borders. Respondents were 18 years of age and older. The survey instrument was designed to gather quantitative and qualitative data …

The Finney County, Kansas Community Assessment Process: Fact Book, Debra J. Bolton Phd, Shannon L. Dick M.S.

NPP eBooks

This multi-lingual/multi-cultural study was called, Community Assets Processt, by the groups that “commissioned” it: Finnup Foundation, Finney County K-State Research & Extension, Western Kansas Community Foundation, Finney County United Way, Finney County Health Department, United Methodist Community Health Center (UMMAM), Center for Children and Families, Garden City Recreation Commission, and the Garden City Cultural Relations Board, because we intend for this to be an ongoing discussion.

An objective, for those promoting the study, was to connect foundation, state, and federal funding with activities or services that addressed the true needs of people living in Finney County. The group was looking …

Assessing The Rural-Urban Divide In A Red State, Joe Blankenau, Chuck Parker

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

This paper explores the rural-urban divide, as it exists within Nebraska, which is a state that is largely homogenous, primarily red, with a historically sizable rural population that is in decline in most counties.1 Using survey data of attitudes towards political and economic issues, and self-identified political ideology, two key questions are considered. Has there been change in the rural-urban divide in Nebraska as rural areas lose population? Second, does the rural-urban divide persist when controlling for party identification, age, and income in multivariate analyses? Bivariate results show that the rural-urban divide continues to be an important factor on several …

Geriatrician And Other Physician Disciplines As The Usual Source Of Care For Rural And Urban Older Adults: 2004-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Wei-Chen Lee, Ciro V. Sumaya

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

The purpose of this study is to examine the trend of usual source care (USC) rates and the discipline of choice among rural and urban older adults. Data used in this study were obtained from 2004 to 2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The yearly percentages of having a specific discipline as the USC were demonstrated from 2004 to 2010. The association of residence with likelihoods of having any of these three physician categories as USCs was assessed holding other individual characteristics constant. The overall sample size is 24,834, of which 20.0% of older adults resided in rural areas. A similar …

Creating Constraints To Community Resiliency: The Event Of A Rural School’S Closure, Jacquelyn Oncescu

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

In this study, a community resilience model is utilized to explore the impacts of a rural school’s closure and its implication on community resiliency in the Village of Limerick, Saskatchewan. The findings from four semi-structured interviews and three focus groups indicate that the school’s closure created a number of constraints that have considerable implications for community resilience. In particular, the school’s closure decreased the residents’ sense of community. In addition, as a result of the school’s closure, the community resident’s experienced diminishing civic engagement in the form of volunteerism, community recreation participation, and intergenerational relationships. This paper demonstrates the challenges …

Persistence Among Deep Rural Communities In The Northern Plains, Revisited, Amber Anderson, George Langelett, Gary Aguiar, Brian Shuler, Meredith Redlin

Online Journal of Rural Research & Policy

This research note revisits the question of rural persistence, which was first brought to light in this journal by Redlin et al. (2010). We follow Redlin et al’s example by employing county-level data and seek to identify small towns that are surviving to explain their persistence. Our effort to replicate their results begins with the collection of the data anew, but we also include two additional states and incorporate a time dimension. By using Census data from 2000 only, Redlin et al. applied a static approach to test their hypothesis. In this study, we collect data from 1990 as well …