Rural Sociology Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

Review Of Newcomers To Old Towns: Suburbanization Of The Heartland. Sonya Salamon. Reviewed By Joseph Deering., Joseph A. Deering

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Book review of Sonja Salamon, Newcomers to Old Towns: Suburbanization of the Heartland. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003. $35.00 hardcover.

Board Of Directors Training, Heartland Center For Leadership Development

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Board of Directors Training

Roles and Responsibilities

Time Devoted to Six Basic Elements

Obstacles

Strategies

Ethics

Recruitment

Managing The Commons Through Obligation: Communality In The Sierra Juárez Of Oaxaca, Katie Moyer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

As one of the most ethnically, culturally, and biologically diverse states in the Mexican Republic, Oaxaca proved to be a good location to learn about alternative forms of social organization. With 570 municipalities, Oaxaca has 23% of the municipalities in the entirety of Mexico. The vast majority of Oaxaca’s municipalities—480—are politically and socially organized through communality, a traditional form of self-government widely known as usos y costumbres (uses and customs). Within the four weeks allotted for this research project the majority of my time was spent in the Northern Sierra Juárez in the state of Oaxaca.

I first visited the …

Quality Of Life In Rural Nebraska: Trends And Changes, John C. Allen, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Nebraska’s economy has begun to improve but the drought has continued to linger in some parts of the state. How have these changes affected rural Nebraskans? How do rural Nebraskans perceive their quality of life? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation?

This report details 2,915 responses to the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll, the ninth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their individual well-being. Trends for these questions are examined by comparing data from the eight previous polls to this year’s results. …

Living And Serving In Rural Nebraska, John C. Allen, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Published by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Copyright © 2003 by J. Allen, R. Vogt, S. Cordes, and R. Cantrell. Many rural communities are experiencing population decline. However, rural residents have continued to show a strong attachment to their communities. How do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Have they served their community or county by holding a public office? Why or why not?

This report details 2,915 responses to the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll, the ninth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

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 …

Access And Affordability: Rural Nebraskans’ View Of Health Care, John C. Allen, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

The availability, cost and quality of health care services are important issues to rural Nebraskans. How available are these services and how satisfied are they with them? Do they have health insurance? Have they experienced any medical hardships during the past year?

This report details 2,915 responses to the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll, the ninth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about health care services. For all questions, comparisons are made among different respondent subgroups, i.e., comparisons by age, occupation, region, etc. Based on these analyses, some key findings emerged:

• The …

Science-Based Organic Farming: A Resource For Educators, Charles A. Francis, Mindi Schneider, Brad Kindler

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Organic farming is an important and growing part of the United States food system. The organic sector has grown by at least 20% per year for the past two decades, and currently shows no indication of slowing in this growth. There is increasing consumer concern about where and how food is produced, and people want to be assured access to safe and healthy food products. Interest and concern about food security, and discussion about the merits of a local food system as compared to the vulnerable globalized marketplace are also becoming increasingly important. In Nebraska we have only limited local …

Nebraska’S Water: Perceptions And Priorities, John C. Allen, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Water has always been an important resource to rural Nebraska. This resource has become more scarce during the last few years amid a continuing drought throughout many counties of the state. Do rural Nebraskans feel the drought is over in their area? What priority do they place on various uses of water? Do they feel the quality or quantity of their household water supply has changed during the past ten years? If so, what has affected it?

This report details 2,915 responses to the 2004 Nebraska Rural Poll, the ninth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked …

Assessing The Gender Component In Coronary Heart Disease; A Comparative Analysis Of Osteopathic And Allopathic Rural Physicians' Medical Approaches To Diagnosing And Treating Female Coronary Heart Disease, Victoria S. Curtis

Dissertations

Heart disease is the number one killer among women in the United States. This dissertation examines how the knowledge base of rural physicians affects his/her approach to diagnosing female heart disease. It compares the knowledge base of doctors trained in osteopathic medicine with doctors trained in allopathic medicine to determine if knowledge base affects how women are diagnosed in comparison with men. Current data suggests that a male model of recognized heart symptoms is most often used to diagnose heart disease, that women and men experience different cardiac symptoms, and those physicians more often overlook and/or misdiagnose women presenting with …

Assessing Community Participation In Development Planning: A Case Study Of Participants' Perceptions From A Small Rural Community In St. Lucia, Augustine Dominique

Capstone Collection

This research paper is a case study of participants' perceptions of their involvement in a process of development planning undertaken by the community of Laborie on the island of St. Lucia in the Eastern Caribbean. Participants are drawn from an overall sample determined by case design theory and the boundaries of the case under investigation. During in-depth interviews participants provide responses to questions on the authenticity of the participatory process. Data from participants is validated through triangulation with evidence from a focus group meeting and other documents and artifacts from the 3-year development planning process. The research also investigates how …

Child Poverty In Rural America, Kenneth M. Johnson, William P. O'Hare

Sociology

This report explores the well-being of the 14 million children who live in rural America. Rural families represent a significant share of our total population and they are disproportionately poor, less educated, and underemployed. Yet poor children and the unique challenges they face are often overlooked by policymakers. Poor children living in rural America face significant educational, social, and economic challenges just as their urban counterparts do, but many of these problems are exacerbated by the isolation and limited access to support services common in rural areas.

Domestic Violence In Appalachia With A Focus On Cabell County, Wv, Deborah Ann Moore

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study of domestic violence in Appalachia with a focus on Cabell County, West Virginia involves many aspects. The costs of domestic violence, as well as, how abused women here conceptualize the major contributors to abusive behavior in men are examined. The demographics of Cabell Co., WV are discussed. The effects of battering and violence on woman’s work and employability are examined. What I did not anticipate to find through the qualitative interviews is the absence of a honeymoon stage in Walker’s (1989) cycle of violence. Goode’s (1971) resource theory provides an influential explanation of violence in Appalachia where a …

Quality Of Life In Rural Nebraska: Trends And Changes, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Nebraska’s Water: Perceptions and Priorities

Access And Affordability: Rural Nebraskans’ View Of Health Care, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans' Opinions on Raising Taxes to Fund Education and Public Aid

Living And Serving In Rural Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Working Together: Rural Nebraskans’ Views of Regional Collaboration

Nebraska’S Water: Perceptions And Priorities, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Individual and Community Well-Being: Perceptions of Change in Rural Nebraska

The Effect Of A Livelihoods Intervention In An Urban Slum In India: Do Vocational Counseling And Training Alter The Attitudes And Behavior Of Adolescent Girls?, Barbara Mensch, Monica J. Grant, Mary Philip Sebastian, Paul C. Hewett, Dale Huntington

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines whether an experimental intervention for girls aged 14–19 that provided reproductive health information, vocational counseling and training, and assistance with opening savings accounts in slum areas of Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, India had an effect on their attitudes and behaviors. Although the livelihoods program was acceptable to parents and feasible to implement, the project had only a minimal impact on the behavior and attitudes of adolescent girls in the experimental slums. The greatest changes between the baseline and the endline surveys were found in those outcomes that most closely reflected the content of the …

An Action Research Investigation Into New Ways Rural Women In Western Australia Can Increase Their Involvement In Government Decision-Making, Teresa Maiolo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research investigates the role of information communication technologies (ICTs) in the promotion of rural women's participation in governmental decision-making. The origins of the research lie in apparent discrepancies between the Australian government’s high-level, policy commitment to increase rural women's involvement in government decision-making and the continuing barriers to their participation as demonstrated by researchers such as Elix and Lambert, (1998); and Wilkinson and Alston, (1999). This research deploys a feminist action research methodology to explore new ways to increase rural women's involvement in government decision-making in Western Australian. The first phase of the research, a phenomenological field study, investigated …