Rural Sociology Commons^™

Branding Your Community, Milan Wall

Heartland Center for Leadership Development Materials

Branding Your Community

Table of Contents:

Connections: Using a Brand Creation Approach to Community Identity

Case Study: Superior, Nebraska

Mapping Community Assets: An Overview

SOAR Analysis

About Appreciative Inquiry

The Marketing Process: Attention, Attraction and Action

Marketing Your Community

Back Home Ideas

Tips for Creating Community Brands

Workshop Evaluation

Place Matters: Poverty And Development Challenges In Amenity Rich, Declining Resource Dependent And Chronically Poor Regions, Cynthia M. Duncan

Carsey Publications

No abstract provided.

On Changes In Rural China: The Rise Of Agrarian Capitalism And Dissolution Of The Peasantry In Contemporary China, Forrest Zhang, John A. Donaldson

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

For decades, Mr. Hong and his family have toiled the ground of Dounan Village, an area of Yunnan Province that became well-known throughout China for the quality of its fresh vegetables. While Hong and his neighbors have, since the early 1980s, concentrated on the small plot of land that the state allocated to them, in recent years, Dounan village has begun producing vegetables in large enough scale to market to distant, wealthy coastal areas, bringing new-found prosperity to the area. After gaining experience producing vegetables both on the plot that the government allocated to his family, and on his neighbors’ …

Thigpen, Lorna Moore (Sc 1581), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scan (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 1581. Transcription of a taped interview with Gale Hudnall, Riverside, Warren County, Kentucky conducted as part of the oral history project "Riverside Remembrances." Hudnall discusses his family and the social life and history of Riverside and Richardsville, Kentucky. Interview conducted by Lorna Moore Thigpen.

Rural Life Census Data Center Newsletter: South Dakota's Food Deserts, Trevor Brooks, Stacey Trushenski, Mike Mccurry, Donna Hess

Census Data Center Newsletter Archive: 2007-2010

For most Americans, shopping takes little time and planning. When one runs out of sugar, a trip to the nearest grocery store is quick and easy. This trip may be more annoying and inconvenient if you live in certain rural areas. Declining populations combined with the loss of jobs often leads to grocery stores serving larger areas. Communities that lack easy access to food supplies, usually because of the lack of grocery stores, are considered food deserts.

Understanding Chronically Poor Places: Encouraging More Voices And Commitment To Change, Cynthia M. Duncan

Carsey Publications

Bureau of Health Professions, US Health Resources and Services Administration presentation

Rural Youth Are More Likely To Be Idle, Anastasia Snyder, Diane Mclaughlin

Carsey Publications

Rural young adults, ages 18-24, are more likely to be idle, not in school, the labor force, or the Armed Forces than their urban counterparts. Among rural high school dropouts and racial-ethnic minorities, rates of idleness are even more pronounced.

A Profile Of Latinos In Rural America, Rogelio Saenz

Carsey Publications

Despite their traditional residence in U.S. urban areas, Latinos represent a large and growing segment of America's rural population. Using recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey (ACS), Saenz presents a profile of the Latino population in the nonmetropolitan United States.

Views Of Community Life In Rural Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Global Climate Change: Opinions and Perceptions of Rural Nebraskans

Television Signal Changes And Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Perceptions of Individual and Community Well-Being Among Rural Nebraskans

Energy Use And Concerns Of Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Rural Nebraskans and Health Care in Retirement

Global Climate Change: Opinions And Perceptions Of Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Where Do Rural Nebraskans Plan to Retire?

Views Of Community Life In Rural Nebraska, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Miguel A. Carranza, Bruce B. Johnson, David J. Peters

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Most of the smaller communities in rural Nebraska have experienced population decline since 2000 while most of the larger communities have experienced population growth. Given these conditions, how do rural Nebraskans feel about their community? Are they satisfied with the services provided? Are they planning to move from their community next year? How do they view the quality of life in their community? What factors are important in contributing to the quality of life in their community? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation? This report details 2,496 responses to the …

Television Signal Changes And Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca Vogt, Randolph Cantrell, Miguel Carranza, Bruce Johnson, David Peters

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Starting in mid-February 2009, all television stations in the country can only broadcast a digital signal. This change does not affect households that currently receive their television signal from a cable or satellite TV provider, only those that receive their signal over-the-air through an antenna or rabbit ears. The 2008 Nebraska Rural Poll included questions related to television viewing, providing a picture of the effect this change will have on 2,496 randomly selected nonmetropolitan Nebraskans.

Perceptions Of Well-Being And Personal Finances Among Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Miguel A. Carranza, Bruce B. Johnson, David J. Peters

Publications from the Center for Applied Rural Innovation (CARI)

Nebraska has experienced slow economic growth recently. However, the state has also seen higher farm income this past year. 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? How concerned are rural Nebraskans about their personal finances? This report provides a detailed analysis of these questions.

This report details 2,496 responses to the 2008 Nebraska Rural Poll, the thirteenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions about their individual well-being. Trends for some of these questions are …

Criminal Histories Of Methamphetamine Users: A Rural Analysis, Israt Zohra

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examined criminal histories of methamphetamine users in rural counties of Arkansas. More specifically, the study explored the difference between methamphetamine users with and without criminal histories. Although there are plenty of research on demographic characteristics, sociological attributes, and drug dependencies of methamphetamine users, there seems to be a gap in the literature focusing on why certain methamphetamine users have been arrested versus users who have not been arrested. A preliminary analysis of the data indicated 60 percent of the participants in the study had criminal histories, while 40 percent have never been arrested; therefore, this study explored potential …

Has The Hiv Epidemic Peaked?, John Bongaarts, Thomas Buettner, Gerhard Heilig, Francois Pelletier

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This working paper reviews the highly diverse regional and country patterns of HIV epidemics and discusses possible causes of the geographic variation in epidemic sizes. The main finding of this analysis is that the HIV epidemic reached a major turning point over the past decade. The peak years of HIV incidence rates are past for all regions, and the peaks of prevalence rates are mostly in the past except in Eastern Europe, where it is expected to peak in 2008. But owing in part to the life-prolonging effect of antiretroviral therapy and to sustained population growth, the absolute number of …

Perceptions Of Well-Being And Personal Finance Among Rural Nebraskans, Rebecca J. Vogt

Nebraska Rural Poll

Energy Use and Concerns of Rural Nebraskans

Rural Superintendents: How Do Wyoming Rural Superintendents View And Respond To The Challenges Brought About By External Demands On Their Schools?, Jeanne L. Surface

Faculty Books and Monographs

Very little is known about how superintendents respond to and view the challenges brought about by increasing external performance demands on their schools. This important study uses a multi-case study format to create portraits of five rural superintendents, the challenges they face, and their responses to those challenges. The participant perceptions were organized into five themes: declining enrollment, isolation, board and community relations, celebrated accomplishments, and rural schools in contrast with urban or suburban schools. The superintendents were most proud of changes they had made to improve instruction in their districts. They spoke of challenges with bringing professional development to …

Exploring Producers', Staff Members', And Board Members' Cognitive Frame On Decision Making In An Appalachian Organic Farming Venture, Curt D. Gervich, Max Stephensen Jr., Marc J. Stern

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Sustainable development assistance organizations (SDAOs) aim to help producers of natural resource products move their goods and services to market. This article explores how the cognitive frames held by producers, staff, and board members in an agricultural SDAO in rural Appalachia influence organizational decision-making. This study explores identity, characterization, value, and membership frames. Data collected through semi-structured interviews with growers, staff, and board members reveal that the frames these stakeholders hold lead to the institutionalization of decision-making processes that allow organizational managers to make quick, consistent, and clear decisions while avoiding conflicts among members who hold competing frames. Simultaneously, these …

Rural Communities And Disasters: Research From The Southern United States, Courtney G. Flint, M. A. Brennan

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This special issue of Southern Rural Sociology brings together a diverse array of theoretical and empirical explorations on the rural community context of disaster in the Southern United States. As the Gulf Coast hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 made abundantly clear, natural and other disasters present a host of unique problems for rural areas. In many cases, rural communities are often left on their own to meet the emergency needs of local residents. While both urban and rural communities found themselves grappling with inexplicable turmoil in the midst and wake of recent hurricane disasters, rural communities were often at the …

Collective Disaster Responses To Katrina And Rita: Exploring Therapeutic Community, Social Capital, And Social Control, Lee M. Miller

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The goal of this paper is to explore the dynamics of one East Texas community’s responses to hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Literature on community response to disaster forms a basis for reflections on observed local response activities, including convergence behavior. In particular, the concept of social capital is compared to, and contrasted with, Barton’s model of therapeutic community. Social control is a relatively unexplored element of social capital, but one that helps us understand the development of normative frameworks, generalized trust, and the perceived legitimacy of institutions–important factors in effective community response to disasters. In conclusion, implications for future preparedness …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Community Attachment In Rural Romania, Natalia Buta, Mark A. Brennan, Stephen M. Holland

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This article explores the intricacies of community attachment using a multidimensional construct; attachment to the social and natural environment. A central focus is to assess whether attachment to the social and natural environment are distinctively predicted by length of residence, social interaction, and sociodemographic characteristics. Furthermore, this work elaborates on current understandings of community attachment by qualitatively exploring feelings of attachment toward the place of residence. All are explored in the context of rural Romania and communities managing the natural resources available to them. The results show the effect of several independent variables on attachment to social and natural environments. …

The Impact Of Rural-Urban Migration On Plantation Agriculture In The Niger Delta Region, Nigeria, Albert Ukaro Ofuoku, Christopher Okeleke Chukwuji

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This study was carried out to unveil the impact of rural-urban migration on plantation agriculture productivity in the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria. Data were collected from 660 rural households and managers/supervisors of 15 selected oil palm, rubber, and cocoa plantations in the Niger-Delta Region. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Most migrants were able bodied young adults. Labor shortage was experienced by all the visited plantations. Due to labor shortages, most of the plantations could not harvest completely. This resulted in foregone revenue for the plantations. Rural-urban migration significantly and positively correlated with labor …

Accelerating Rural Growth Through Collective Action: Groups' Activities And Determinants Of Participation In Southwestern Nigeria, Mure U. Agbonlahor, Oluwafemi S. Enilolobo, C. I. Sodiaya, Dare Akerele, Joel T. Oke

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This study was conducted to investigate the types of activities promoted by cooperative groups and the determinants of participation intensity of members in cooperative activities in southwestern Nigeria. A multistage sampling approach was used to select 326 cooperators (45 groups). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, difference of means test, and Tobit regression.Cooperative groups engaged in farm and off-farm activities such as arable crop production, fish farming, agricultural products processing, and produce marketing, among others. Farm input procurements and access to market information (74 percent), cooperative credits and thrift (53 percent), social networking (37 percent), multipurpose commercial activities (21.6 …

The Texture Of Local Disaster Response: Service Providers' Views Following Hurricane Katrina, John J. Green, Anna M. Kleiner, Jolynn P. Montgomery

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Disasters highlight elements of community vulnerability and resiliency. Effective responses are organized and managed to provide goods and services to survivors while also being supportive of the organizations attempting to meet these needs. Collaboration among local service providers, such as nonprofit, faith-based, and governmental organizations, allows communities to build upon internal and external networks and resources to prepare for and respond to disasters. Using a livelihoods framework, we analyze 139 qualitative field interviews conducted in the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Southeast Louisiana, to learn from the experiences, needs, and recommendations of people working on the front lines of disaster in …

Mississippi Business Environment Before And After Katrina: Challenges And Opportunities, Domenico Parisi, Steven Michael Grice, Jed Pressgrove

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

Valid, reliable, and, most importantly, timely information is the most critical aspect for the design and implementation of successful emergency management strategies. This goal, however, is rarely achieved during the aftermath of a disaster. In this paper, we showcase how we used administrative records to assist Mississippi in evaluating the overall impact of Katrina on the state’s economy. Specifically, we assisted the state in developing a methodology to generate valid, reliable, and timely information on (1) the business environment and labor market and (2) rehiring and hiring practices. This information was used by the state to design recovery strategies and …

Disaster Recovery In Rural Communities: A Case Study Of Southwest Louisiana, Deborah Tootle

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

This paper provides a descriptive case study to develop a better understanding of the disaster recovery and rebuilding process in the three parishes (counties) in South Louisiana that were hardest hit by Hurricane Rita in 2005. The data come from a number of sources: official documents, news articles, published data, and personal observations. This case study’s implications raise questions about current approaches to disaster recovery. It also suggests strategies for practice, program development, and policy.

Campus Cowboys And Cowgirls: A Research Note On College Rodeo Athletes, Gene L. Theodori

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

College rodeo has evolved from small, single-campus fund-raisers, celebrations, and/or competitions into an internationally recognized North American collegiate sport. Throughout its history, though, the sport has received virtually no attention in the sociological literature. In this research note I provide a descriptive summary of member characteristics and selected findings from a 2003-2004 National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association membership survey. I also empirically examine the association of size of place of residency during childhood with previous involvement in rodeo (i.e., before participating in college rodeo). Findings reveal that respondents who spent most of their childhood in more rural areas (i.e., in the …

Risk Perceptions After A Coal Waste Impoundment Failure: A Survey Assessment, Stephanie Mcspirit, Shaunna Scott, Duane Gill, Sharon Hardesty, Dewayne Sims

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

In mid October of 2000, a rupture occurred at the bottom of a coal waste reservoir owned by Martin County Coal Corporation (MCCC-Massey). Impounded slurry and sludge materials from the reservoir traveled through underground mine works and burst through two mine portals on opposite sides of the mountain releasing more than 300 million gallons of coal waste into creeks and waterways of Martin County, KY. This paper examines people’s reactions to the Martin County coal waste disaster by examining levels of reported concern and perceptions of risk across the impacted community of Martin County in comparison to similar coal mining …