Rural Sociology Commons^™

Job Skills, Tolerance, And Positive Interactions: The Gendered Experiences Of Appalachian Migrants, Kelli Brooke Alford

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The following study examines gendered learning experiences of a population of Appalachian migrants surveyed from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. The respondents who participated in the survey used for this study began their lives in Appalachia. These respondents then left Appalachia for various other areas in the country and even around the world only to ultimately return to the mountainous region later in their lives. To begin, theory will be introduced concerning the stratification of gender in the Appalachian economic landscape, as well as a theoretical framework placing Appalachian women in an interlocking web of oppression with other …

The Seven Spices: Pumpkins, Puritans, And Pathogens In Colonial New England, Michael Sharbaugh

Michael D Sharbaugh

Water sources in the United States' New England region are laden with arsenic. Particularly during North America's colonial period--prior to modern filtration processes--arsenic would make it into the colonists' drinking water. In this article, which evokes the biocultural evolution paradigm, it is argued that colonists offset health risks from the contaminant (arsenic poisoning) by ingesting copious amounts of seven spices--cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, allspice, vanilla, and ginger. The inclusion of these spices in fall and winter recipes that hail from New England would therefore explain why many Americans associate them not only with the region, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas, …

Las Montañas Respiran: La Cosmovisión De La Comunidad De Rayampata Representada A Través Del Mito Pitusiray-Sawasiray, Gillian Thornton

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

En las altas montañas de los Andes, donde los árboles crecen lentamente y los vientos están constantemente pulsando a través de la hierba desaliñada, se dice que la tierra respira. Allá, aun los animalitos más pequeños tienen una gran fuerza en el ciclo de vida, y cada uno de los seres vivos, de las plantas, y de las piedras tiene vida. Se dice allá que aun las montañas pueden hablar. En la comunidad alta de Rayampata, la gente se comunica con la tierra para sobrevivir; escucha a los murmullos del río para saber cuando es tiempo a cosechar, lee las …

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (Nasis) 2010-2011 Methodology Report, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

Bureau of Sociological Research 2010-2011 NASIS Methodology Report 2

CONTENTS

Introduction 3

Mode Selection 3

Design & Item Selection 3

Sampling Design 4

Experimental Design Treatment 4

Data Collection Process 4

Response Rate 5

Data-Entry Training, Supervision, and Quality Control 5

Processing of Completed Surveys 5

Data Cleaning 5

Representativeness of the Survey 6

NASIS Sample Weights 6

Figures 8

Tables 9

Appendix A: Cover Letter 12

Appendix B: Formatted Mail Survey 17

Appendix C: Reminder Postcard 29

Appendix D: County Codes 30

Appendix E: Variables and Descriptions 31

Parks And Obesity In Rural And Urban Nebraska, Michaela S. Wolf

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

In order to better understand the role community design plays in obesity rates, this project studies a potential relationship between distance of parks from homes and obesity rates in four Nebraska counties. Park use may contribute to important health benefits, such as reducing risk of obesity by increasing physical activity levels. There are limitations to park use, such as crime rates and facility upkeep that are important to understand so that they might be managed and communities can reap greater benefits from their parks, including better fitness. This study examines park distance from homes as a potential limiting factor to …

The Mongolian Horse And Horseman, Elisabeth Yazdzik

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

I am halfway through my ISP when I discard the sheet of questions written for me in Mongolian, and begin to ask what really matters.

“I would like to learn not just about the practices of Mongolian horsemanship, but about the culture.”

“Chinggis Khan took the entire world on horseback; America was unknown then, and he nearly conquered Europe. Because of this, the horse is sacred.

We do our working riding horses. We eat the horse’s meat. Our herding is done from horseback. Because of this, the horse is sacred”.

These are the words of Rentsendavaa, spoken to me as …

Nomadic Knowledge Of The Yak: A Case Study In The Khangai Mountains, Mongolia, Jesse Geary

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

It is extremely important to probe and preserve the knowledge of nomadic herders of Mongolia. There is no formal piece of literature that dictates how these clever humans survive. Their lifestyle requires a vast skill set spanning from construction knowledge, to navigational skills, to a deep understanding of their animals. One attains this knowledge through years of observation, listening, and attempting to mimic their parents. In this way, knowledge is passed on from one generation to the next. Investigating herder’s knowledge of the yak provides a window into the animal husbandry practices of Mongolian nomads. The herders in the central …

Review Of Immigrants In Prairie Cities: Ethnic Diversity In Twentieth-Century Canada. By Royden Loewen And Gerald Friesen., Lori Wilkinson

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

Loewen and Friesen trace the origins of public concern about the adverse influence of immigrants in terms of increased competition for jobs, threats to social cohesion, questioning the loyalties of newcomers at the beginning of the 20th century--issues remarkably similar to the mythology describing immigrants in western societies today. Readers may be tempted to ask, "If the situation in the 1900s is so similar to today's, why read this book?" Not only will readers get a sense of the longevity of these and other myths surrounding migration, they will learn about the creation of ethnic culture in the prairies and …

Review Of Hollowing Out The Middle: The Rural Brain Drain And What It Means For America. By Patrick J. Carr And Maria J. Kefalas., Peter F. Korsching

Great Plains Research: A Journal of Natural and Social Sciences

"Hollowing out the middle" refers to the loss of the well-educated young adults in rural communities of America's Heartland-the Corn Belt and Great Plains. Declining rural communities invest their meager resources to educate their brightest youth, thereby providing them opportunities for rewarding careers in distant cities. This further contributes to the communities' woes because it guarantees not only population loss, but also loss of expertise and leadership that could help them solve their problems. Carr and Kefalas's contribution to understanding the dilemma of rural communities promoting and supporting the loss of the best and brightest is through an in-depth analysis …

Animal Welfare: Perceptions Of Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Almost all rural Nebraskans recognize the importance of livestock and poultry production to the state’s economy and most rural Nebraskans are familiar with livestock care practices. In fact, many rural Nebraskans have experience raising beef cattle, poultry and swine. They have less experience with dairy production.

Most rural Nebraskans believe animal welfare means providing adequate exercise, space and social activities for the animals in addition to food, water and shelter. However, the vast majority of rural Nebraskans agree that animal welfare means at least providing adequate food, water and shelter to livestock animals.

Most rural Nebraskans trust livestock farmers and …

Community Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: Current Perceptions And Future Strategies, 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

By many different measures, rural Nebraskans are positive about their community. Many rural Nebraskans rate their community as friendly, trusting and supportive. Most rural Nebraskans also say it would be difficult to leave their community. In addition, most rural Nebraskans disagree that their community is powerless to control its future.

Differences of opinion exist by the size of their community. Residents of smaller communities are more likely than residents of larger communities to rate their community favorably on its social dimensions and to have positive sentiments about their community. However, residents of larger communities are more likely than residents of …

Alcohol And Other Drug Resistance Strategies Employed By Rural Adolescents, Jonathan Pettigrew, Michelle Miller-Day, Janice L. Krieger, Michael L. Hecht

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

This study seeks to identify how rural adolescents make health decisions and utilize communication strategies to resist influence attempts in offers of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 113 adolescents from rural school districts to solicit information on ATOD norms, past ATOD experiences, and substance offer response episodes. Rural youths’ resistance strategies were similar to previous findings with urban adolescents – refuse, explain, avoid, and leave (the REAL typology) – while unique features of these strategies were identified including the importance of personal narratives, the articulation of a non-user identity, and being “accountable” to self …

The Digital Age: Nonmetropolitan Nebraskans’ Use Of Technology, 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Onnie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans use the Internet or email from home. The groups most likely to use the Internet or email from home include: persons living in or near larger communities, residents of the Panhandle region, persons with higher household incomes, younger persons, females, married persons, persons with higher education levels and persons with management, professional or education occupations. The Internet applications used by the majority of rural Nebraskans include: research, looking for health information, purchasing a product, watching a video and social networking.

Most rural Nebraskans have positive opinions about shopping online: that the Internet is the best place to …

Quality Of Life In Nonmetropolitan Nebraska: 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bradley D. Lubben, Connie Reimers-Hild

Nebraska Rural Poll

Most rural Nebraskans are positive about their current situation. And, they continue to be generally positive about their future situation. Over one-half (52%) of rural Nebraskans think they are better off than they were five years ago and just under one-half (45%) think they will be better off ten years from now.

Certain groups remain pessimistic about their situation. Persons with lower household incomes, older persons, persons with lower educational levels and persons who are divorced or separated are the groups most likely to be pessimistic about the present and the future.

When asked if they believe people are powerless …

Nature, Domestic Labor, And Moral Community In Susan Fenimore Cooper's Rural Hours And Elinor Wyllys, Richard M. Magee

English Faculty Publications

Cooper's argument for a domestic ideal situated within a rural setting reinforces the importance of community connections through a shared sense of morality, as well as understanding of the natural world. Community alone—the human connections—never seems to be enough in Cooper's formulation, but must always exist with an awareness of the world outside the narrow confines of one's own domestic sphere. Concern for one's fellow-beings necessitates a concern for the world in which these beings live, and Cooper understands that when any bonds are broken—such as the bonds that connect us to the natural world—other bonds are threatened. Thus, when …

Nasis 2011: Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey Questionnaire, Bureau Of Sociological Research

Nebraska Annual Social Indicators Survey (NASIS)

[ About this Survey ] We need your help to learn about how Nebraskans' think, feel, and live. Your responses will help shape program and policy development in Nebraska now and into the future.

This survey includes questions on various topics, such as water issues, life processes, crime, and the media to name a few. Each section starts with a header to identify the topic related to the questions. We think you will find many, if not all, of the topics interesting and easy to answer.

68 questions; 12 pages

Fair Trade And Fair Trade Certification Of Food And Agricultural Commodities: Promises, Pitfalls, And Possibilities, Sarasij Majumder

Sarasij Majumder

The global circulation of food and agricultural commodities is increasingly influenced by the ethical choices of Western consumers and activists who want to see a socially and environmentally sustainable trade regime in place. These desires have culminated in the formation of an elaborate system of rules, which govern the physical and social conditions of food production and circulation, reflected in transnational ethical regimes such as fair trade. Fair trade operates through certifying producer communities with sustainable production methods and socially just production relationships. By examining interdisciplinary academic engagements with fair trade, we argue that fair trade certification is a transnational …