Rural Sociology Commons^™

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 …

Experiencing Samoa Through Stories: Myths And Legends Of A People And Place, Samantha Lichtenberg

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research will explore oral tradition, indigenous beliefs prior to Christianity, and the significance of place through the study of Samoan myths and legends. The researcher will investigate the tradition of storytelling by hearing the stories from Samoan elders themselves. These stories will be supplemented with details from secondary written resources in order to compile comprehensive versions of the myths and legends. The research will consider the affect that Christianity has on the meaning of the stories and examine whether traces of indigenous belief/religion are preserved today through storytelling and the remembrance of myths. The researcher will spend a significant …

Validating The Culture Of Agriculture: Farmers Groups And Organic Agriculture Mitigating Rural To Urban Migration In Bhutan, Emma Dosch

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Agricultural occupations make up the largest proportion of Bhutan’s workforce. Over the past two decades the occupation has shrunk from 90% to 65% of Bhutan’s employment. The younger generation of Bhutan’s rural population is seeking livelihood opportunities in urban areas, leaving farms with labor shortages. The movement may compromise the identity and sustainability of Bhutan’s rural population and undermine the nation’s goals of Gross National Happiness (GNH) directed policy. Initiatives to retain and legitimize agricultural livelihoods are emerging inside and outside of government policy. Existing efforts are models of ways to reconnect educated individuals with the needs and values of …

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 (through 2013)

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 (through 2013)

"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 …

Understanding Mesosystemic Influences On Reported Health Among Rural Low-Income Women: A Structural Equation Analysis, Tiffany Wigington

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While ensuring access to health insurance and health care services is important, emerging research indicates that individual health and well-being result from a complex array of environmental, social, and psychological factors. The delineation of how factors of health and well-being unfold and impact rural low-income women is particularly salient for social workers who provide services to rural residents and who work within a rural context. Utilizing components from the ecological systems perspective, this study explored how the factors associated with health risk influenced reported health and mesosystemic processes among rural low-income women. This sample (n=304) for this study was drawn …

The Escola Do Campo João Sem Terra: A Look Inside The Process Of Making Education Relevant In The Landless Worker’S Movement Settlement 25 De Maio., Owen Grooms

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the process of implementing the goals of the Escola do Campo João Sem Terra within the Landless Worker‟s Movement of Brazil (MST), a social movement pushing for agrarian reform that is establishing a network of schools in its communities, of which the newest branch is the Educação do Campo concept, which involves establishing high schools based around the reality of students in the campo, or countryside. As the first of these Escolas do Campo, João sem Terra is experiencing the difficulties of this process in becoming such a different school. The school has issues with the state, …

Education In Chronically Poor Rural Areas Lags Across Generations, Jessica D. Ulrich

Carsey Publications

As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initiative, the Carsey Institute has been investigating broad trends between rural community types, including the education level of residents and their parents. Since 2007, Carsey researchers have conducted over 17,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans from twelve diverse rural locations to ask about both their own and their parents’ educational attainment, as well as their perceptions of school quality in their communities. Survey results conclude that educational achievement varies significantly by type of place in rural America. In chronically poor rural areas, 45 percent of residents have …

Civil Protective Orders Effective In Stopping Or Reducing Partner Violence: Challenges Remain In Rural Areas With Access And Enforcement, T. K. Logan, Robert Walker

Carsey Publications

Civil protective orders are a low cost, effective solution in either stopping or significantly reducing partner violence for women. While all women benefit from civil protective orders, this brief finds there are greater obstacles to enforcement in rural places, which result in less benefit for rural than urban women. The authors suggest that policies and services should be tailored to address community-specific barriers and differences such as hours of access, time it takes to obtain or serve an order, and access to information about the process.

Environmental, Economic, And Social Changes In Rural America Visible In Survey Data And Satellite Images, Joel N. Hartter, Chris R. Colocousis

Carsey Publications

This brief focuses on the changing landscapes of different types of rural America where social, economic, and ecological changes are occurring over large areas: the Northern Forest, Central Appalachia, and the Pacific Northwest. These three study sites embody varying historical reliance on land and natural resources and represent very different socioeconomic dynamics. Their common and unique challenges are explored, along with the far-reaching implications of land-cover change in their areas. Data used includes both telephone surveys and satellite imagery to illustrate the unique changes seen in rural America in recent years. (Please note that it is best to print this …

Enduring Ties To Community And Nature: Charting An Alternative Future For Southeast Alaska, Jessica D. Ulrich, Thomas G. Safford

Carsey Publications

Like much of rural America, Southeast Alaska is confronting the social implications of both population declines and the downturn in natural resource-based industries. Although many residents have chosen to leave Alaska in the last decade, the majority have stayed. Strong social cohesion and intimate ties to the natural amenities of the region are what sustain rural Alaskans. It is these connections to people and place that may ultimately enable residents to create renewed and more resilient Alaskan communities. Examining the challenges faced by Southeast Alaska, this brief discusses ways to encourage community groups and governmental agencies to work collaboratively to …

How Far Would You Drive For Fresh Food? How Some Rural New Hampshire Residents Navigate A Dismal Food Landscape, Jennifer J. Esala

Carsey Publications

Lack of access to food stores with healthy and affordable food is one of the central obstacles to eradicating hunger in America. Approximately 23.5 million Americans live more than a mile from a supermarket, which makes accessing healthy food more challenging. Among low income populations, especially those with young children and limited transportation, this distance can severely limit access to affordable and healthy foods. This brief reports the challenges that eighteen rural New Hampshire mothers face to secure healthy, affordable, and quality foods and suggests ways to help address these challenges.

No Place Like Home: Place And Community Identity Among North Country Youth, Genevieve R. Cox, Corinna J. Tucker

Carsey Publications

This brief explores the link between rural youths’ identification with their community, their self-esteem, and their future plans. The panel study of New Hampshire’s Coos County youth offers a snapshot into the dynamics of a population that is developing its identity in a region that is undergoing an identity transformation of its own. Place identity may be influential in how individuals think of themselves and their futures, particularly for youth in the process of forming an identity. The study reveals the importance of developing community programs and activities for youth that create social ties to form a positive identification with …

Warren County Citizens For Managed Growth (Mss 355), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid for Manuscripts Collection 355. By-laws, minutes, newsletters, correspondence and other material related to WCCMG, an organization founded to deter development of the Kentucky Trimodal Transpark, located near the rural community of Oakland in Warren County, Kentucky. Also includes information about Oakland, Kentucky. A bibliography of newspaper articles about the Kentucky Trimodal Transpark is included. To access the bibliography click on "Additional File" below.

Factors That Impact Service Delivery To Individuals Living With Hiv/Aids In Rural Northeastern Texas, Wilma Cordova, H. Stephen Cooper, Freddie L. Avant

Faculty Publications

This study surveyed participants in focus groups to identify factors that affect individuals living with HIV/AIDS in rural northeastern Texas. The average age of the respondents was 45.44. Participants included a diverse group of American Europeans, Hispanics/Latinos, and African Americans. Although results are inconclusive, other studies have supported similar results regarding factors that impact treatment and services (Zuniga, Buchanan, & Chakravorty, 2005). Some of the factors include lack of financial resources for the consumer, stigma and discrimination, and lack of understanding on the part of the consumer and the community. More studies in rural areas serving people living with HIV/AIDS …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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

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 …

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 …

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

Nutrient Management Record Keeping Calendar, July 2011-December 2012, Leslie J. Johnson, Charles Shapiro, Charles Wortmann, Chris G. Henry, Larry Howard, Tamilee D. Nennich

Nebraska Cooperative Extension: Faculty and Staff Publications

Records for Nebraska Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

Record the initials of the person performing the inspection each time. Check marks will not satisfy the record-keeping requirements.

Record any maintenance and/or repairs.

Correct all deficiencies within 30 days.

Boundaries And Breaches: Complexities And Strategies Down On The Farm, Debra S. Kershaw

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Employing a wide range of theoretical and methodological tools, practitioners within an array of disciplines have attempted to gain new understanding about the structural changes in the agricultural system in the United States and around the world. From Agricultural Economists to Sociologists, quantitative and qualitative research has attempted to shed light on structural change in agriculture and its implications for the real lives of farmers, their families, and consumers of their goods. The current research adopts a comparative-historical approach to examining the particular affects of structural change in six counties in central Nebraska. The general theoretical frame on which this …

Factors That Contribute To Student Graduation And Dropout Rates: An In-Depth Study Of A Rural Appalachian School District, Ann Lyttle-Burns

Online Theses and Dissertations

There has been a wealth of research conducted on the national epidemic of high school dropouts spanning several decades. It is estimated that the class of 2009 cost the nation $335 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2009). The citizenry of the country suffers not only because of the loss in revenue but also as a result of the education level of the population. Individuals who choose to drop out of high school are not prepared for the most basic minimum wage jobs available, much less well paying jobs that sustain livelihoods. …

Becoming A Teacher And Staying One: Examining The Complex Ecologies Associated With Educating And Retaining New Teachers In Rural Australia?, Margaret Plunkett, Michael Dyson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The problem of teacher retention has intensified in Australia, particularly in rural areas, with a number of studies suggesting that beginning teachers are not entering the profession with a commitment to remaining there. This paper reports on a study of 102 new teachers graduating from a rural campus of a major Australian university. Utilising a self devised survey over a 3 year period, graduate reflections were captured on what it meant for them to become a teacher. The research sought to determine graduates’ goals and aspirations for working in the profession in both the long and the short term. Participants …

Factors Influencing Community Response To Locally Undesirable Land Uses: A Case Study Of Bluegrass Stockyards, Terry Logan Lunsford

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Community development is an ongoing issue that faces communities as they develop. This is a case study where two communities where faced with an identical development proposal involving Bluegrass Stockyards. Bluegrass Stockyards a prominent livestock marketing business, located in Lexington, KY needed to relocate its facility and looked at communities in Lincoln and Woodford County Kentucky as possible new locations.

By looking at the case of Bluegrass Stockyards this study is able to use Conflict Theory, Growth Theory and Frame Analysis to look at the development process and issues that was associated with this development proposal. With the two communities …

“You’Re Surviving But I Don’T See How You’Re Living” Appalachian Women Talk About Tanf And Employment In Their Communities, Pon-Chu Tsou

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis studies qualitative data to examine the lived experiences of Kentucky Transitional Assistance Program (K-TAP) recipients in Appalachian Kentucky. This research suggests that PRWORA legislation utilize the importance of place-based analyses to implement and evaluate poverty policy. For women who are attempting to meet PRWORA’s goals, the local services available to the women and the barriers they face to employment highlight the role place has in this national policy discussion. Of the women interviewed, recipients who resided in economically distressed areas had fewer opportunities to participate in employment activities than women in at-risk or transitional areas. While many strived …