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Articles 301 - 330 of 468

Full-Text Articles in Rural Sociology

The Delta E-Commerce Connection: Preliminary Findings, Susan Watson, Ogbonnaya John Nwoha, Gary A. Kennedy, Kenneth W. Rea Jun 2006

The Delta E-Commerce Connection: Preliminary Findings, Susan Watson, Ogbonnaya John Nwoha, Gary A. Kennedy, Kenneth W. Rea

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

A USDA Fund for Rural America project is creating economic opportunities for small agricultural and rural businesses in the Lower Mississippi Delta by assisting in e-commerce business development. Select rural businesses are provided technical support in web site development, marketing strategy formulation, electronic retailing services, and space on a secure server for one year. Businesses retaining web sites after this time assume responsibility for maintaining and funding the site. Characteristics of rural businesses adopting e-commerce are compared with those not adopting. Preliminary results suggest the amount of time invested in initial web site design, satisfaction with design, economic benefits from …

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An Analysis Of The Determinants Of Food Insecurity With Severe Hunger In Selected Southern States, Okwudilio O. Onianwa, Gerald D. Wheelock Jun 2006

An Analysis Of The Determinants Of Food Insecurity With Severe Hunger In Selected Southern States, Okwudilio O. Onianwa, Gerald D. Wheelock

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This study predicts food insecurity with severe hunger versus food insecurity with moderate hunger among low-income households with children and without children. Data for the study was generated from a survey of the clients of nonprofit food assistance agencies in selected southern states. The questionnaire incorporated the 18 core questions for assessing food insecurity, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of users. A two-stage process involving the application of the Rasch measurement scale and the Logit model was employed to analyze the data. Results indicate that for both households with children and households without children, income was a significant predictor …

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Assessing Program Effects Or Impact In Enterprise Development Programs, Tristi C. Nichols Dec 2004

Assessing Program Effects Or Impact In Enterprise Development Programs, Tristi C. Nichols

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Responding to questions increasingly posed by finders regarding what works best in assisting small businesses and what impacts are caused by program interventions, this paper aims to help program administrators answer these questions. Focusing on business development service provision, specific conceptual measures and quantitative variables are presented with examples in an effort to provide some guidance for collecting and analyzing data. The paper elucidates how program planners may emphasize the impact of their interventions, thereby explaining to finders what works best and how to prove it. It presents two major reflections about measures that yield robust results. The first conceptual …

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Entrepreneurship Education At 1890 Land Grant Institutions: A Profile Of Programs And Consideration Of Opportunities, Caroline E. W. Glackin Dec 2004

Entrepreneurship Education At 1890 Land Grant Institutions: A Profile Of Programs And Consideration Of Opportunities, Caroline E. W. Glackin

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Entrepreneurship education at U.S. universities formally began at Harvard University in 1947 with a single course and most significant efforts began in the past 30 years (Katz 2003). This paper provides entrepreneurship education profiles of top ranked programs, emerging campus-wide programs, and 1890 Land Grant Institution programs. Entrepreneurship Centers (ECs), typically in Schools of Business, are components of entrepreneurship education at many institutions. ECs have programs and services from research to academic instruction to community outreach and programming. This paper introduces a typology of ECs predicated upon their academic programs and community outreach. Detailed program information on and recommendations for …

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University-Wide Entrepreneurship Education: Alternative Models And Current Trends, Deborah H. Streeter, John P. Jaquette Jr. Dec 2004

University-Wide Entrepreneurship Education: Alternative Models And Current Trends, Deborah H. Streeter, John P. Jaquette Jr.

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The paper examines the trend towards university-wide programs in entrepreneurship education. We present a conceptual framework for dividing university-wide programs into two categories: "magnet programs," which draw students into entrepreneurship courses offered in the business school, and "radiant programs," which feature entrepreneurship courses outside the business school, focused on the specific context of the nonbusiness students. Examining 38 ranked entrepreneurship programs, we found that about 79 percent now have university-wide programs, most of which follow a magnet model. In interviews with stakeholders at sample institutions, we found that magnet and radiant programs differ in terms of program definition, motivation for …

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Entrepreneurship And Small Business Development As A Rural Development Strategy, Kenneth L. Robinson, Wylin Dassie, Ralph D. Christy Dec 2004

Entrepreneurship And Small Business Development As A Rural Development Strategy, Kenneth L. Robinson, Wylin Dassie, Ralph D. Christy

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Many social scientists believe that supporting entrepreneurship development within low-income communities is a viable development strategy to combat poverty. Some even suggest that if economic development is to be effective, new businesses in low income areas must be started through local initiatives, and that entrepreneurship is critical to the maintenance of a healthy economy. Underpinned by recent scholarship and grassroots movements that suggest that presence of smaller scale, locally-controlled enterprises can help determine whether communities prosper or decline, this paper explores the links between entrepreneurship and rural development. Using a theory of change framework (Oldsman and Hallberg 2002), the authors …

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Entrepreneurship Among Black Americans: A Theoretical Perspective On Modes Of Adjustment And Entrepreneurial Education, John Sibley Butler Dec 2004

Entrepreneurship Among Black Americans: A Theoretical Perspective On Modes Of Adjustment And Entrepreneurial Education, John Sibley Butler

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In this paper Butler argues that despite a stronger, group-wide emphasis on new venture creation among black Americans in the past, entrepreneurship continues to be a means of economic security and wealth creation for this group. To frame his argument, Butler examines Modes of Adjustment theory and the decline of venture development among African Americans. His emphasis is on understanding the theory's implication for black entrepreneurship and for the entrepreneurial education of future generations. Using data from both the Survey of Minority-owned Business Enterprises and Characteristics of Business Owners, Butler highlights the present status of black entrepreneurship to explain patterns …

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So What? A Primer On Methods For Identifying, Measuring, And Analyzing Program Impacts And Outcomes, Ronald L. Williams Dec 2004

So What? A Primer On Methods For Identifying, Measuring, And Analyzing Program Impacts And Outcomes, Ronald L. Williams

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper offers insights on the need for increased program accountability and the benefits that arise from the use of better performance measures. Examples of impact and accountability reports are presented to highlight the best practices. Weaker impact reports are analyzed so as to emphasize more effective ways to demonstrate outputs and impact to funders.

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Socioeconomic Perspectives On Infant Mortality In Alabama, James O. Bukenya Jun 2004

Socioeconomic Perspectives On Infant Mortality In Alabama, James O. Bukenya

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Socioeconomic and demographic variables are examined in a maximum likelihood spatial lag framework to determine conditions influencing infant survival in Alabama using county-level data. The analysis is motivated by the basic premise that economic development and unidimensional health interventions such as immunization programs are not enough to ensure constant mortality decline in low-income regions. The results suggest that differences in socioeconomic factors can explain a large portion of the variation in child mortality rates among counties and across races in Alabama. The results also concur with prior conclusions that maternal and infant health remains an important reflection of the social …

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Oil And Natural Gas And Rural Local Government Finances In The Gulf Of Mexico Region, F. Carson Mencken, Nicole Flynn Jun 2004

Oil And Natural Gas And Rural Local Government Finances In The Gulf Of Mexico Region, F. Carson Mencken, Nicole Flynn

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

National energy policy is focused on increasing production and exploration of existing energy sources (particularly oil and natural gas). What impact this might have on local institutions, particularly local governments who are often responsible for providing the infrastructure necessary to sustain production and exploration, is a relatively unexplored but important question. Sociological theory predicts that the effect will be most felt in nonmetropolitan communities that specialize in oil and gas production. We pursue this issue by examining the impact of the oil and gas industry boom and bust period of the 1970s and 1980s on local government finances in oil …

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An Economic Analysis Of Forest Products And Nature Based Tourism Sectors In North Carolina, Aruna Murthy, Frederick W. Cubbage Jun 2004

An Economic Analysis Of Forest Products And Nature Based Tourism Sectors In North Carolina, Aruna Murthy, Frederick W. Cubbage

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

As part of a study on the impacts of wood chip mills in North Carolina, we analyzed the economic contributions of the forest products sector and tourism sector in the state, using a variety of regional economic and demographic data bases and the IMPLAN input-output model. As of 1996, forest products firms in the state employed about 105,000 people and the nature-based tourism sector about 91,000 people. Total employee compensation in the forest products industry was $3.2 billion; for tourism it was $1.4 billion. Industrial output was $13.5 billion for the forest products industry in 1996, and $3.9 billion for …

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Underemployment And Workforce Development In The Mississippi Delta: Community-Based Action Research For Program Planning To Increase Livelihood Security, John J. Green, Antoinette Jones, Christopher Pope Jun 2004

Underemployment And Workforce Development In The Mississippi Delta: Community-Based Action Research For Program Planning To Increase Livelihood Security, John J. Green, Antoinette Jones, Christopher Pope

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Underemployment and poverty are important social problems, and they have received attention from researchers and policymakers with interest directed toward workforce development programs. Building from the knowledge obtained through regional and national quantitative studies, this project assessed what employers and underemployed adults living in Mississippi Delta communities had to say about these problems and how to address them for the purpose of informing a community-based organization. Following a review of Census data, qualitative telephone interviews and focus groups were utilized in this community-based action research effort aimed at informing workforce development program planning to increase livelihood security. Results from asset …

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Enhancing The Rural South's Quality Of Life: Leveraging Development Through Educational Institutions, Glenn D. Israel Jun 2004

Enhancing The Rural South's Quality Of Life: Leveraging Development Through Educational Institutions, Glenn D. Israel

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

2004 SRSA Presidential address presented February 16, 2004, at the annual meeting of the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Tulsa, Oklahoma

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Exploring The Association Between Length Of Residence And Community Attachment: A Research Note, Gene L. Theodori Jun 2004

Exploring The Association Between Length Of Residence And Community Attachment: A Research Note, Gene L. Theodori

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Empirical examinations of the systemic model of community attachment have emphasized the relative importance of certain sociodemographic factors. Among them, length of residence generally has been viewed as the key variable influencing attachment to one's community. Despite the vast number of articles documenting the main effects of length of residence on community attachment, no published papers investigating the interactions between length of residence and additional important systemic-model and/or community-level predictors were uncovered in the literature. Using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals in two rural communities in Texas, I explore the main effects …

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The Concept Of Social Exclusion And Rural Development Policy, F. Dale Parent, Bonnie L. Lewis Dec 2003

The Concept Of Social Exclusion And Rural Development Policy, F. Dale Parent, Bonnie L. Lewis

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Since the early 1970s rural research and public education programs have been intensified in efforts to improve living conditions and strengthen community life in rural America (Southern Perspectives 2000). During much of the 1990s, the nation, including the rural South, experienced a growing economy, a booming stock market, and declining unemployment rates (Gibbs 2001). However, many serious social problems traditionally associated with the rural South remain to this day (Gibbs 2001). This paper introduces the concept of social exclusion, used extensively in European countries and now part of the European Union's official lexicon. Social exclusion is defined as the process …

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Faith Based Initiatives And Black Churches: Relationships In A Small City, Said Sewell Iii Dec 2003

Faith Based Initiatives And Black Churches: Relationships In A Small City, Said Sewell Iii

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This exploratory study examined characteristics of black churches in a small southern city that affected the likelihood that such churches would play an active role in faith-based community services. A formal mail survey of church ministers in black Protestant churches in this city was employed. Results were discussed in light of federal policies that promote faith-based initiatives to meet local social service needs. The results indicated that the majority of the black churches in this study were active in addressing local needs through indirect (sermons, lobbying local governments) rather than direct (program development and implementation) means. Among a range of …

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New Opportunities For Social Research On Forest Landowners In The South, John Schelhas, Robert Zabawa, Joseph J. Molnar Dec 2003

New Opportunities For Social Research On Forest Landowners In The South, John Schelhas, Robert Zabawa, Joseph J. Molnar

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Many of the issues of importance to forest management and policy have important social components. Yet, in the South, social research on forests has lagged behind economic and biophysical research. In this paper we identify some important new opportunities for social research on forests in the South, focusing on non industrial private forests because they represent the majority of the South's timberland. We identify six important areas for social research. One, research on diversity of forest land owners and how different landowners relate to and use their forests. Two, social relationships of forest landowners, including household and family structure and …

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One Step Further: Women's Access To And Control Over Farm And Forest Resources In The U.S. South, Sarah T. Warren Dec 2003

One Step Further: Women's Access To And Control Over Farm And Forest Resources In The U.S. South, Sarah T. Warren

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The ownership and management of forested land by women in the United States has been largely unexamined. It may be inappropriately discounted, especially in regions such as the South, where private land ownership is extensive and forest industry is an important component of the economy. Here several data sources on female forest and woodland owner/operators are examined, focusing on the southern U.S. states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. It is clear that female-operated farms and farmlands are increasing, and that female farm operators employ different land use strategies from their male/other …

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One Engineer And A Dog: Technological Change And Social Restructuring In Alabama's Pulp And Paper Industry, Peter R. Sinclair, Conner Bailey, Mark Dubois Dec 2003

One Engineer And A Dog: Technological Change And Social Restructuring In Alabama's Pulp And Paper Industry, Peter R. Sinclair, Conner Bailey, Mark Dubois

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

We apply a commodity systems analysis to examine a series of changes that are transforming Alabama's pulp and paper industry. Alabama is a critical area for investigation because it lies at the heart of North America's principle pulp and paper production zone. Industry restructuring is a complex process involving the reorganization of capital and corporate ownership, as well as changes in technologies, which affect the labor process. For example, a recent spate of corporate mergers has resulted in concentration of mill ownership and has accelerated the prevalence of sub-contracting. Indeed, the expansion of sub-contracting into new realms raises the fundamental …

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Historical Analysis Of Timber Dependency In Alabama, Glenn R. Howze, Laura J. Robinson, Joni F. Norton Dec 2003

Historical Analysis Of Timber Dependency In Alabama, Glenn R. Howze, Laura J. Robinson, Joni F. Norton

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Almost every part of Alabama is heavily forested and by most standards the forest products industry is the state's leading industry. A significant portion of the total employment and the majority of the manufacturing employment of these counties are in forest product enterprises, criteria used here to define timber dependent counties. This paper will use the historical demographic, economic, and agricultural census data to trace the development of timber dependency in rural counties in Alabama. Understanding the social and land use history is critical in examining timber dependency in Alabama today. Conclusions will be drawn between rural and timber dependent …

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Regional Comparisons Of Timber Dependency: The Northwest And The Southeast, Joni F. Norton, Glenn R. Howze, Laura J. Robinson Dec 2003

Regional Comparisons Of Timber Dependency: The Northwest And The Southeast, Joni F. Norton, Glenn R. Howze, Laura J. Robinson

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

We perform a comparison of the timber dependency and socioeconomic characteristics of timber dependent counties for three states in the Northwest region (Idaho, Oregon, and Washington) and three states in the Southeast region (Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi) of the United States. The purpose of this research is to examine whether two forested areas of the United States experience timber dependency in similar ways. This research defines timber dependent counties as those with 20 percent or more of the total employment in forest-based industries. Questions related to forest-based employment patterns and socioeconomic correlates of timber dependency are examined. Tests of difference …

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Public Interests In Private Property: Conflicts Over Wood Chip Mills In North Carolina, Sarah T. Warren Dec 2003

Public Interests In Private Property: Conflicts Over Wood Chip Mills In North Carolina, Sarah T. Warren

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The controversy over chip mills in North Carolina is part of a larger public discussion of forest policy throughout the southern Appalachians, Ozarks, and Ouachitas. Chip mills have become a symbol of forest resource exploitation in the southern Appalachians, and many studies and commissions have been established for analysis of the conflict. In this paper I describe the tensions that have arisen between new public views of appropriate property use and more traditional views of natural resource use. Based on the results of a social impact assessment conducted in the summer of 1999 as part of a broader study on …

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Public Perceptions About Biotechnology, Don E. Albrecht Dec 2003

Public Perceptions About Biotechnology, Don E. Albrecht

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Biotechnology represents a new generation of scientific and technological advancements and has the potential to result in profound changes in twenty-first century agriculture. Since the general public are the consumers of biotechnology products, public acceptance is vital. This article presents the results of a survey of a random sample of Texas residents on two significant issues. First, to what extent is the general public supportive of biotechnology, and second, are there some segments of the population that are more supportive of biotechnology than other segments. Survey results make it apparent that the Texas general public has a clear mandate about …

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An Ethnographic Description Of Latino Immigration In Rural Arkansas: Intergroup Relations And Utilization Of Healthcare Services, Deborah O. Irwin Jun 2003

An Ethnographic Description Of Latino Immigration In Rural Arkansas: Intergroup Relations And Utilization Of Healthcare Services, Deborah O. Irwin

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Recent growth of Latino immigration in the rural south resulted in a 337 percent increase in the Latino population in Arkansas from 1990 to 2000 (Broadwater 2001; U.S. Census Bureau 2000). The purpose of this study was to examine perspectives of both the established non-Hispanic resident and new immigrant Latino regarding the "accommodation" processes occurring and the inherent changes both groups experience. This paper describes a rural/urban comparison of two issues: 1) intergroup relations between new Latino immigrants and the established non-Hispanic resident population, and 2) utilization of healthcare services by Latinos. Methods for this study included key informant interviews, …

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Pines In Lines: Tree Planting, H2b Guest Workers, And Rural Poverty In Alabama, Josh Mcdaniel, Vanessa Casanova Jun 2003

Pines In Lines: Tree Planting, H2b Guest Workers, And Rural Poverty In Alabama, Josh Mcdaniel, Vanessa Casanova

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The southeastern United States has become the most important timber producing region in the country. Despite increases in productivity, questions remain regarding the industry's role in developing, or failing to develop, rural communities in many of the poorest areas of the South. This article examines the recruitment and employment of migrant and guest workers for forest management work, specifically tree planting and reforestation. Based on semi-structured interviews with 35 H2B guest workers and 18 labor contractors the article analyzes the linkages between forest management labor recruitment, poverty, local labor markets, and timber productivity in the State of Alabama. We describe …

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Extension Services In The Transition From Post-Communist Agrarian Systems: The Case Of The Plant Protection Stations In Ukraine, Keith M. Moore, Edwin G. Rajotte, Charles Pitts, Igor Dolinniy, Olena Cholovska Jun 2003

Extension Services In The Transition From Post-Communist Agrarian Systems: The Case Of The Plant Protection Stations In Ukraine, Keith M. Moore, Edwin G. Rajotte, Charles Pitts, Igor Dolinniy, Olena Cholovska

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper addresses the transition of Ukrainian Plant Protection Stations (PPS) from technical agencies in the Soviet command economy to a public service for farmers in an emerging market economy. It opens with an overview of the circulation of agricultural knowledge and information in Soviet agriculture. During the transition, the fundamental knowledge-based problem for agricultural sector actors has been to recognize distinct private and public sectors which balance market incentives with the maintenance of social welfare and allow for adaptive decision-making with respect to technical, environmental, social, and financial trade-offs. Two annual surveys of plant protection stakeholders designed to improve …

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Mexican Immigrant Communities In The South And Social Capital: The Case Of Dalton, Georgia, Rubén Hernández-León, Victor Zúñiga Jun 2003

Mexican Immigrant Communities In The South And Social Capital: The Case Of Dalton, Georgia, Rubén Hernández-León, Victor Zúñiga

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

During the 1990s, the South became a major new destination for Mexican and other Latino settled immigration. This paper contends that as Mexican immigrants have moved in sizable numbers to atypical destinations, they have also mobilized social capital and funds of knowledge from the historical concentrations of Latino settlement (i.e., Los Angeles and Chicago) to new areas, such as the South. Using qualitative and descriptive quantitative data collected in Dalton, Georgia, a small city located in the southern Appalachia region, this article shows how previously accumulated social capital and funds of knowledge are facilitating settlement with collective and individual level …

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From Goldschmidt To Globalization: The Southern Model And Rural Development, Douglas H. Constance Jun 2003

From Goldschmidt To Globalization: The Southern Model And Rural Development, Douglas H. Constance

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

2003 SRSA Presidential Address

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Camas Calientes: Housing Adjustments And Barriers To Social And Economic Adaptation Among Georgia's Rural Latinos, Jorge H. Atiles, Stephanie A. Bohon Jun 2003

Camas Calientes: Housing Adjustments And Barriers To Social And Economic Adaptation Among Georgia's Rural Latinos, Jorge H. Atiles, Stephanie A. Bohon

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

We examined conditions among Latinos in rural Georgia, using Morris and Winter's (1978) model for housing adjustment and adaptation, in order to develop a framework for extending the segmented assimilation model into the literature on residential assimilation. Morris and Winter's model is predicated on the notion that persons who suffer from multiple normative deficits will deviate from housing norms. We argue that significant deviations from housing norm's may lead to delayed incorporation or, at worst, downward assimilation. Using unstructured interviews with key informants and focus groups with Latino residents in four rural counties, we find that Latino immigrants in rural …

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Latinos In The South: A Glimpse Of Ongoing Trends And Research, Rogelio Saenz, Katherine M. Donato, Lourdes Gouveia, Cruz Torres Jun 2003

Latinos In The South: A Glimpse Of Ongoing Trends And Research, Rogelio Saenz, Katherine M. Donato, Lourdes Gouveia, Cruz Torres

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Since the late 1980s, there has been a tremendous amount of reshifting in the Latino population of the United States. This movement has resulted in the increasing settlement of Latinos in areas of the country that have historically not had Latino populations, particularly in rural settings. In particular, areas in the South and Midwest have experienced significant growth in the Latino population. This article provides an overview of this growth in the South using data from the 1990 and 2000 censuses. In addition, the article provides a brief description of the accompanying articles that are featured in this special issue …

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