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Natural resource dependence, although commonly invoked in natural resource sociology, has often been ambiguously defined. Communities are frequently described as dependent on natural resource development, but limited attention has been paid to what that means. In the literature, resource dependence is often treated as over‐specialization in, or over‐reliance upon, the natural resource sectors. However, the logic of over‐specialization conceptually grounds dependence in poor economic outcomes. Thus, a one‐dimensional typology of dependence based on a threshold of the share of development in the natural resource sector—as commonly used—does not fully capture the concept and risks tautology. In this paper, I address this ambiguity by formally defining natural resource dependence as over‐specialization in the natural resource sectors. I then present an ideal typology, known as the Natural Resource Community Typology, and a corresponding classification scheme for rural communities in the United States. The typology integrates both extractive and non‐extractive natural resource activity and has two dimensions—the level of development and the level of economic prosperity—and six mutually exclusive categories—extractive specialized, extractive dependent, non‐extractive specialized, non‐extractive dependent, hybrid specialized, and hybrid dependent. I classify counties from 2000 to 2015 and find that while extractive dependence decreased over the study period, non‐extractive dependence increased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on communities often fails to meet two important criteria which permit valid generalizations from the findings. First, studies generally fail to apply the scientific comparative approach and the techniques of multivariate analysis in their design and execution. Second, theory fails to distinguish between properties of communities and properties which are properly classified in other systems. Sociologists who study communities do not share a precise definition of community, nor do they agree how observations about community phenomena are to be incorporated into sociological theory. The discussion that follows will be facilitated, however, if one can make reasonably clear the sense in which this paper deals with the sociological study of community. Community is viewed in this paper as a territorial system. The more comprehensive territorial definitions of community view it as a form of social or ecological organization arising from the fact that people share a common area for their daily activities.

The tendency for neighborhood patterns of association to localize the exchange of farm information on a person-to-person basis is demonstrated in this paper by the analysis of two types of interpersonal relationships. Conditions which help to explain this relationship are examined and evaluated, and the relationship of neighborhood residence to the evaluation of sources of farm information is considered. Although consideration of the relative influence of neighborhood and clique patterns of association is beyond the scope of this study, the data show that clique members are more likely to live outside neighborhoods than inside. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores changing relationships between apparel firms and rural labor markets in Wisconsin over the last decade. Mainstream explanations of recent changes in the apparel industry suggest that rural communities will lose tedious or physically demanding, low-skilled apparel manufacturing jobs but will gain more information-intensive and desirable "apparel service" employment. Through case studies of apparel firms located in two Wisconsin communities, the paper argues that current changes in the industry not only affect communities unevenly but, even in regions where apparel service firms have provided significant numbers of new jobs, these jobs are less well paid, more casually structured, and less secure than manufacturing employment has been. The paper argues that current concepts of the economic embeddedness of firms in communities need to be refined to permit consideration of the kinds of leverage and voice that community organizations have in confronting new forms of corporate capital. The two case studies demonstrate that corporate embeddedness and its labor market outcomes are linked to changes in the global market in which firms compete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to what might be regarded as a basic postulate in sociology, when a number of persons are in interaction over a period of time, mutual expectations and norms develop concerning the behavior of the persons involved, and the individual's actions are not independent of these norms and expectations. the postulate is the basis of the hypothesis that relationships among neighbors affect many of the individual operator's decisions concerning the farm business. The author of this paper seeks to test the hypothesis that the extent to which farm operators adopt recommended farm practices is, in part, a function of the operator's neighborhood of residence.

In recent decades, the prevalence of part-time farming in the United States has increased substantially. However, there have been few attempts to apply theoretical perspectives to explain the growing prevalence of part-time farming or to understand differences in the prevalence of part-time farming among various parts of the country. In this paper, human ecological theory, is used to develop a perspective and model on the prevalence of part-time farming, in this ecological model, variables depicting the farm and non-farm environmental, technological, and sustenance bases are examined. The analysis generally supports the model with the six ecological variables explaining 5.5 percent of the variation in the prevalence of part-time farming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies comparing the fear of crime of residents of different sized communities have considered only one dimension of the relationship between urban life and fear of crime. This paper extends previous research by examining the effects of rural-urban origin, using survey data from two large western Canadian cities. The identification of important inter-action effects between size of place of origin and length of residence in the city, gender, and age allows discussion of how "rural baggage" may influence current city residents' subjective responses to the urban environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to present a sketch of procedures which hold promise for yielding behavioral indicators of connections among actions in the local society. The community is viewed as a behavioral and interactional phenomenon. From this perspective, which assumes but does not emphasize spatial, institutional and psychological dimensions, relevant data have to do with the behavior of actors in specific task-accomplishment processes. The tasks might be building a hospital, conducting a political campaign, evacuating a residential area which is threatened by flood, or any infinite number of other public, locality, relevant concerns. The raw data of behavioral study of community are acts by individuals. Reports of acts are amassed, sorted, classified and examined. Acts are seen as fitting together into projects and episodes, and these into fields of action concerning specific interests or goals.

This paper re-examines the significance of the ecological approach for community study. First it briefly recounts the character of the "new" ecology fostered especially by Hawley and Duncan. Secondly, it summarizes the main similarities, differences, and convergencies between this new ecology and each of four other theoretical stances which currently seem to be the most vital to community study: the typological-shared meanings approach. the social system idea, inductive taxonomy, and an interactionist mode. While significant divergencies remain, the ability of the new ecology to comprehend many of the concerns in these other approaches suggests it may be quite helpful in the continuing effort to bring order to the diverse phenomena of the community field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fact that adolescent residents of smaller communities have lower aspirations than adolescent residents of larger communities is well documented. A number of possible explanations have been suggested: (1) financial resources and needs, (2) educational opportunities, (3) the sociocultural context of community life, and (4) special consequences of farming. However, no previous researcher has attempted a direct empirical evaluation of the relative importance of these explanations. In this paper data from a survey of Canadian high school girls were used to evaluate the first three, since the fourth appears to apply only to boys. This analysis indicates that educational opportunity explains most of the relationship; and when both educational opportunity and community context are controlled, all relationship between community size and college aspiration disappears. Previous research allows tentative generalization of these findings to high school boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis of the churches in a rural North Carolina school district which has become a part of a metropolitan community. Expanding congregation and Sunday school enrollments created achievement lag. Several churches adopted innovations which made them centers of organized social activities. The churches facilitated expansion of the middle class in the district and, at a time of rapid change, were important stabilizing influences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an attempt to compare four different techniques of assessing farm family values: (1) direct questioning, (2) choosing between alternative expenditures of time or money, (3) verbal ranking of family goals, and (4) behavioral data in the form of material possessions, family expenditures, and social participation. A high degree of association is found between the three verbal indices of family values. The validity of verbal measures is dependent upon the type of value measured. Choices between alternatives in the expenditure of time or money appear to be a reliable as well as valid means of measuring family values which involve such expenditures. Behavioral indices of value are valid only when the behavior is not highly influenced by immediate situational factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasizes the importance of training foreign students in a manner that will enable them to effectively carry on their professional duties in their home countries. Changes needed in graduate school programs to more effectively train foreign students are described. The five major changes suggested are: (1) Give more consideration to language facility and living conditions so that they will support rather than detract from the students' training program; (2) use more intercultural data in classroom presentations; (3) get the students off the campus for more systematic observation of and contact with American family and community life; (4) experiment with doing more of the training work in the field; (5) provide more training opportunities in the application of social science to problem-solving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals in four communities in Pennsylvania, I examine the effects of community satisfaction and attachment on self-assessed individual well-being. I find substantial support for the hypothesis that satisfaction with the community and attachment to the community are associated independently and positively with individual well-being. Bivariate and multiple correlation/regression analyses reveal that greater community satisfaction and attachment result in higher levels of perceived well-being. Although the total explained variances of the community satisfaction and attachment measures are small, they do not differ substantially from various social and demographic factors that have been found to be associated with well-being. I propose possible implications of these findings and make suggestions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the variables and factors that influence or help to explain levels of community satisfaction. Given the apparent and not surprising relationship between "community satisfaction" and decisions about residential location, it is important to understand what affects community satisfaction. This is especially true in many rural areas, where there is considerable concern about populations that are declining or in which growth is stagnant. Personal social/spiritual satisfaction is an important factor in determining community satisfaction. The social/spiritual scale explained 18 percent of' the variance in community satisfaction ratings. The more satisfied a resident is with the social/spiritual areas of his or her life, the higher the community satisfaction score. Satisfaction with employment factors and satisfaction with financial security during retirement also appeal--to play a role in community satisfaction. Over the years many analysts, policy makers, and practitioners have looked askance at the "touchy-feely" and process-oriented approach to community development. The findings suggest that such an approach may not be entirely misguided. In addition, the local community may find it easier to improve the non-economic domain, including the adequate provision of local government and educational services, than to improve local economic conditions.

There is growing interest in the extent of informal economic activity as a form of income generating or subsistence activity within first world economies, but little agreement exists in the literature as to what constitutes informal work, what activities in addition to monetary exchanges make up the informal economy, and where these activities are located. The lack of consensus on the proper definition of the activities that make up the informal economy is reflected in the lack of systematic data available to investigate these forms of work. This paper investigates using telephone survey research techniques to develop inexpensive and efficient data sources to answer questions about the forms, prevalence, and location of informal work. The research uncovers problems associated with developing survey based measures of informal activity, but it also demonstrates the viability of this approach as well as the generally high level of participation in both rural and urban places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All farmers are confronted with challenges from the agricultural environment which make the efficient use of their labor necessary for economic survival. Older farmers in poorer health were found to be especially handicapped in this respect. Some older farmers in poor health were, nonetheless, efficient. This study investigates correlates of farm labor efficiency among a group of central Indiana farmers of advanced years and in poor health. Efficient farmers differed from inefficient farmers with regard to their orientation toward work, the nature of their farms, and their social status. Efficient farmers were more active, tended to be moderate in their attitudes about the importance of work, worked larger and more productive farms, received higher incomes, and were more likely to serve as officers in community organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports the findings of a pilot study, which was conducted with the view of refining the concept of hospital acceptance. The pilot study had three objectives in mind. These were: to construct an index of hospital acceptance, to discover variables which might be related to the index of acceptance and to state hypotheses which would be tested subsequently through more intensive study. Hospital acceptance was conceptualized as consisting of a complex of general attitudes toward a specific hospital. Thus, the schedule was designed to elicit nine general attitudes toward the county hospital. When these attitudes were placed on a continuum they ranged from thinking about the hospital as a part of the community at one end of the continuum to willingness to support the hospital through use, contributions, etc., at the other end of the continuum. The study was conducted in a northeast Mississippi county, which is served by a modern 40-bed Hill-Burton hospital. This hospital has operated since 1950, and is fairly typical of the new hospitals in Mississippi from the standpoint of its physical plant and services offered.

Four community studies are analyzed to show the relative advantages of the concepts of cultural isolation and rurality. This analysis suggests that, in many types of investigations, it may be more advisable to establish theoretical frameworks in which the focus is centered on specific variables. Cultural isolation as a concept may offer keener insights and reveal more significant knowledge for the development of systematic theory than the use of the rural-urban dichotomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This mixed‐methods study examines rural young professionals' migratory intentions in relation to sense of community. The most significant difference we found in migratory intentions was between two groups, which we call stayers and seekers. Both groups highly valued sense of community but they reported dramatically different experiences related to the dimensions of membership and emotional connection to the particular focal community of this study. We find that, in addition to commonly cited factors of age, importance of family, traditional cultural tastes, and achieved sense of community, the experience of disconnection between desired and experienced sense of community represents a distinct influence on respondents' intentions to leave within the next 5 years. The qualitative data suggest that the practices of granting greater access to local stocks of knowledge, offering direct invitations to participate in community life, and providing greater responsibilities in the service of the community cultivate emotional connection and sense of membership, and therefore may be critical to better retaining those people who feel the greatest sense of disconnection. This study examines the dynamics underlying these results and outlines practical implications for other communities hoping to combat local manifestations of brain drain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the objectives of the introductory rural sociology course for teacher-trainees. In a rural community the teacher needs to be aware of the community as an entity, and of its structure and functioning. The rural community is small enough and simple enough in structure that rural schools, far more easily than urban ones, can prepare children for the active participation in community life which is so essential to a democracy. Teachers need to be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of rural life, that they may capitalize upon the former and offset or compensate for the latter insofar as they are related to the school program. They need to see the unique features of rural life and to make the rural school program unique. The rural school program should utilize the best in our professional understandings and practices insofar as they meet the peculiar needs of rural children, rural schools, and rural communities. Suburbanization is producing another type of problem which the rural sociologist can help solve through participation in teacher preparation. The school in suburban and urban fringe areas is frequently a battleground for the conflicting ideologies and practices of an emerging type of community for which no norms or traditions have been established.

Outmigration of youth has concerned rural communities and researchers for several decades. Yet not all communities experience extensive youth outmigration and some youth want to stay in their rural communities as adults. This article examines youth satisfaction with their current community and the importance of characteristics of the community in which they would like to live as an adult for youth preferences to leave or stay in their rural community. The data are for rural ninth-grade youth in Pennsylvania from the Rural Youth Education Project. The results suggest that perceptions of available jobs and educational opportunities in both current and future community, parental and friend influences, and the quality of the natural environment and outdoor recreation are important in determining residential aspirations. In particular, identifying a clean natural environment and outdoor recreation as important in the adult community increases the likelihood that rural youth have residential aspirations to stay in their rural community. This research adds to our knowledge about factors important in determining youth residential aspirations by identifying attributes of community beyond jobs and educational opportunities that youth find attractive as they consider places to live as adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the article "Governmental Administration and Informal Local Groups" by Charles P. Loomis and colleague. According to the author they express a pious hope that the selection of "natural neighborhoods and communities" as bases for administrative units might help to strengthen the solidarity within these natural groupings. Sociologist Bryce Ryan, while not objecting to the proposed use of "natural areas" as administrative units as such, attacks violently the proposition that the strengthening of neighborhood ties might be a valid goal for administrative policies. He accuses Loomis and colleague of "romanticism," of a "sentimentally determined preference" for neighborhoods, charging that such preference for one type of social system over another is usually not considered as a matter for scientific judgment. Administrative organizations which serve primarily the needs of the wealthier farmers can therefore function without being based on natural local groupings. One should not forget, however, that even special purpose associations and similar organizations tend to function in a more satisfactory way if, in addition to the like or common interest, the members are bound by ties of kinship, friendship or other more intimate relations. Such relations may be less obvious than neighborhood, but they may be none the less present in well functioning special purpose associations.

The literature notes that natural disasters, including wildfires, that damage human settlements often have the short-term effect of "bringing people together." Less recognized is the fact that such events can also generate social conflict at the local level. This study examines the specific sources of such social conflict during and after community wildfire events. Examining qualitative data generated from six case studies of wildfires in the American West, we suggest that integrating the theories of Weber, Giddens, and Habermas with community interaction theory provides a context for understanding such conflict. Rationalized forms of interaction and problem solving imposed by extra-local organizations during and after wildfire events are often resisted by local actors who are also inhibited from acting due to local capacity limitations. Thus, conflict occurs when social relations are disembedded by non-local entities, and there is a perceived loss of local agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the 1970s and 1980s, social scientists focused considerable attention on patterns of community change in boomtowns affected by large-scale energy resource development in the western United States. The resulting literature has provided inconsistent and relatively inconclusive evidence about the extent of various forms of social disruption caused by the rapid economic and demographic changes associated with such developments. In particular, because of a lack of in-depth longitudinal research, little is known about the degree to which social problems observed during rapid growth periods in such locations may persist after the boom. This research addresses some of those questions through a longitudinal examination of various dimensions of social well-being in four western rural communities. Community surveys conducted four times across a 13-year span provide data on patterns of change for 10 distinct indicators of social well-being. Results show that although social disruptions occur in several dimensions of well-being during boom periods, not all dimensions appear to be affected by such growth. Also, when boom-induced declines in well-being occur, they are consistently followed by a sharp rebound, with no evidence of lasting disruption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors of the article "A Comment on a POET Model," published in the September 1, 1985 issue of the journal "Rural Sociology," allude to a positive motivation for their effort and have stated that they do not wish to engage in a useless debate. However, because they appear to have a poor understanding of authors' article and of the human ecological theoretical perspective on which it is based, they tend to use concepts and ideas out of context, to misinterpret minor emphases as major ones, and to formulate criticisms without providing constructive alternatives. Consequently, in this article, it is necessary for authors to address specifically these errors and misinterpretations. In addition, authors also attempt to address more important theoretical and empirical issues that can advance the use of human ecology and expand the general base of knowledge in the sociology of agriculture. Authors attempt this by outlining several of the major areas of misunderstanding that have often plagued the use of human ecology in sociology, by outlining the general nature of ecological processes, and by suggesting areas within the sociology of agriculture to which human ecological theory can be usefully applied.

The effects of community attachment of geographic mobility are examined. Data on heads of households perceptions about their community were collected in a 1970 survey of 3,101 Washington (state) resident had moved from his or her community. This research overcomes shortcomings of past research in two ways: First, measurement of community attachment was taken before the actual move, rather than after. Second, actual mobility was measured instead of only a prediction about whether the respondent expected to move. Contingency analysis shows that both community identification and satisfaction are associated with mobility. When controls on age are made, the retarding effect of both variables on mobility remains, though not as strongly and with important exceptions. Notably, identification does not affect adults in their most important years of occupational achievement: i.e., 30-45. A behavioral measure of community attachment -- membership in voluntary associations -- shows that membership retards mobility, but when age is controlled, the effect exists only for those adults beyond the 30-45 category. Partial correlation analysis with age, years in county, community size, sex, career, family and household ties as controls shows that community satisfaction influences mobility behavior except for those over 60. Partial associations for other community attachment indicators were not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community satisfaction patterns of professionals located in rural areas were studied. Guttman scale types were derived from interview responses of teachers, clergymen, lawyers, and doctors (including dentists). The hypothesis that file four professions differ in community satisfaction was accepted. Teachers and clergymen (‘social-helping’ professionals) had lower community satisfaction scores than lawyers, doctors, and dentists (‘technical-helping’ professionals). Further analysis showed that differences in community satisfaction between these two types of professions occurred only under the conditions of high formal social participation and low mobility, and that social participation was positively associated with community satisfaction for technical-helping professionals while number of moves was positively associated with community satisfaction for social-helping professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparison of two recently devised Guttman scales of community organization suggests that, regardless of culture content, recent human communities follow a unidimensional sequence of growth in the direction of greater articulation with the larger urban-industrial society. The scales specify a series of steps reflecting simultaneous internal and external elaboration of social organization, but roughly there are three main emphases: local autonomy, representative external contacts, and interpenetration of the community and national systems. A theoretical basis for the generalization is proposed and some of its practical applications are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study of social participation among a sample of male household heads in a rural community of Victoria, Australia, indicates that in terms of numbers of different types of formal voluntary organizations this kind of group is an important part of the social organization of the community. The great variety of organizations is indicative of a high degree of differentiation of interests among the population. There is strong evidence of status selectivity of participants in these organizations, not only as to the degree of their participation in organizations but also as to the types of organizations to which they belong. It would also appear from this analysis that the Chapin Social Participation Scale is a suitable measure of formal participation for populations in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fragmentation of holdings denotes the situation in which the average farm consists of numerous small parcels scattered haphazardly about in the area within a given rural community. In Spain as a whole there is an average of 17 separate tracts per farm, and the phenomenon is particularly acute in the northwestern one-fourth of the country where the number of parcels per farm runs as high as 84 in the Province of Soria and averages above 40 in Burgos, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Segovia, and Zamora. Most of the social and economic effects of fragmentation are adverse, although the spreading of risks and the diffusion of a family's interests to all parts of the community in which it resides may be advantageous. As sociologists from the United States accept professional responsibilities in other parts of the world, many of them are forced to deal in one way or another with the phenomenon of fragmentation of agricultural holdings. This constitutes an intellectual challenge of the first order of magnitude since this subject has seldom figured in the contemplations and writings of the sociologists in this country.

A community can be considered a group of people interacting on formal, semiformal, and informal levels within a spatial referent. As a result of this interaction, some degree of consensus concerning community boundaries should exist. An approach to community delineation through a community-member-group method should thus be feasible. A consensus index can be developed to measure the amount of agreement. Such an approach, applied in Pennsylvania, gave preliminary evidence of validity and a higher rate of boundary-placement agreement than a comparable trade-area delineation. Rural sociologists have typically expressed concern over the community as a unit for scientific study, an area for facilitating local action, and a theme for sociological theory development. They have explored its composition, its internal functions, its relations to institutions, and the interaction patterns in and between communities. The wide use made of trade-area delineation does not indicate complete acceptance of it as a method incorporating all the essentials of community life.

"Community development" is derived and possibly takes its name from programs and activities often thought of as community organization as well as more ambitious schemes of economic development. Theoretical formulations are possible on two levels: that of the practitioner, which is largely administrative and action-oriented in character, and that of the social scientist, which is largely conceptual in nature. Four of the current ways of viewing community development are: first, as a process, with a focus upon sequences of interaction; second, as a method, as a means to an end; third, as a program, consisting of content as well as procedures; fourth, as a movement, involving personal commitment and an emotional dynamic. For each of these approaches various fields of sociology have significant contributions to make. Different theoretical implications are also determined by the geographical level (local, regional, national) at which community development is viewed as well as by the types of functionaries which are relied upon to promote community development programs. These are discussed with reference to existing sociological fields of inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participation in organized group activities is probably one of the most germane problems for research and sociology. It is noted that development of this field of study is likely to be hastened if the close relation between method and theory is kept. Hence, this article describes a revised method of measuring social participation and explains how this method grew out of an unsuccessful attempt to use existing scales. Some beginnings of a more adequate theory of participation are suggested.

Data from surveys in four rural communities in New York State were used to test hypotheses which relate social participation and old age. The evidence from this study points to the crucial effect of the sociological aspects of the situation of the aged on the reduction in their formal participation. The following specific relationships were found: (1) low socioeconomic status and retirement combine to produce low participation in formal organizations among aged male household heads in rural communities; (2) retirement produces a change in the pattern of participation through a shift in emphasis from occupationally oriented activities to activities which provide sociability and face-to-face group satisfactions; and (3) advanced age brings about less of a reduction in participation than either low socioeconomic status or retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data from a national sample survey indicate that a third of the adult nonfarm people of the United States in 1952 were reared on farms. This important farm-reared element in our nonfarm population has distinctive social characteristics and social participation patterns. The farm-reared are concentrated in low-status positions, as measured by education, income, occupation, or self-perception of class. These distinctive social positions are not a function of the concentration of the farm-reared in smaller places, older age groups, or particular regions. The relationship between social participation rates and farm background varies with the type of activity considered. The farm-reared are less active politically and have less confidence in political action. The farm-reared element is found to have a lower rate of activity in voluntary groups and higher rates of church attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The eight leading rural sociology texts are in general agreement that neighborhoods persist as significant forms of association in rural America, although less prevalent and less important than in earlier times. Several recent studies raise doubts and uncertainties which have not been given adequate expression in the texts. The research reported here raises further questions. "Lay experts" at the county level delineated some open-country "neighborhoods" which were not sociologically meaningful to the residents of the "neighborhoods" and areas contiguous to them. The writers question the empirical validity of "neighborhoods" delineated by the use of methods not reaching the cognitive-behavior systems of the individuals under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows the concomitant relationship of age and the intensity of participation of rural people in formal organizations. The Chapin Scale was used to determine the participation behavior for each person ten years of age and over in 435 rural families. The data show several significant phases by age groups on the total participation profile. First, the avenge score is higher in the 15-19 age class as compared with the preceding five year age group. Second, the scores decrease at twenty years of age and the low point for the entire age structure occurs in the ten years between twenty and thirty. Third, the scores gradually increase alter thirty years of age. Among males the peak comes in the 55-59 age group. The highest point for females appears to come about ten years earlier. Fourth, the older age groups have markedly lower scores than the age classes with the highest scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of cultural or ethnic criteria and patterns of community organization, the island of Ceylon is divided into its major regions. Emphasis is placed, in the discussion, upon contrasting community organization structures. The proto-type of the Ceylon community is the peasant agricultural village but this analysis shows sharp structural differences in villages of different regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Considered as the study of human association in the rural environment, rural sociology covers a very wide scope. It comprehends not alone the delineation of the areas and sub-areas of community life, considered in the horizontal aspect; but includes as well the myriad forms of association within the spatial framework. In this latter aspect it describes all those functions, which make up the associational life of rural man. Thus it is a discipline of great breadth, as wide, indeed, as the forms of associational life are varied. It is recognized that wide differences of opinion exist among sociologists and other social scientists as to the scope of the field of sociology, and as to the boundaries among the various disciplines. The development of a science of human society is the goal. It may never be attained; but from what people know at present concerning the evolution of the older science of physics, it appears that it will be reached, if at all as a result of scholars' digging ever deeper in their various spade holes, until these individual efforts coalesce in an ultimate unity.

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents information on small farmers of the pacific northwest organize neighborhood discussion groups. Farm Security Administration's (FSA) 15,000 borrowers are beginning to wonder if they'll face the same conditions in the post-war period as confronted small farmers after 1st World War. Specific steps have been and are being taken in Idaho-Oregon-Washington to help small farmers develop their neighborhood discussion groups. In that way small farmers can formulate their own answers to the many questions which are troubling them. The purpose of the article is to give a brief picture of FSA's neighborhood discussion group program in the Pacific Northwest. Eight years of FSA experience in the Pacific Northwest demonstrates that neighborhood discussion groups can serve as an effective method for stimulating small farmers to help themselves. Neighborhood discussion groups are where "the people themselves discuss their own problems, develop their own ideas, and formulate a program of action which involves a pooling of the efforts of all the people. In areas where these groups are active, instead of FSA trying "to sell" a preconceived program to the small farmers, the small farmers are actually coming to FSA with the rough outline of their own program.

The article presents information on neighborhood as a unit of action in rural programs. In recent years rural sociologists have gained sufficient status to make the selection of local organizational units for federal programs a serious scientific problem. Reacting against entirely arbitrary patterns of organization, sociologists have sought to write their knowledge of rural society into the structure of new federal and state programs of action and planning. Thus there has come the insistence that attainment of integrated, effectual programs depends upon the use of organizational units which follow "natural" social cleavages. Obviously there are many studies showing thoroughly ingrown neighborhoods, and one could indeed go into practically any area of the nation and delineate some geographic patterns of interfamily visiting or exchange of work. But these exercises mean very little without knowledge of the content of those relations and the corresponding significance of less localized relationships added to or encroaching upon them. No one would deny that strong primary relations exist among groups of farmers in practically all rural communities, but this is far from saying that primary locality groups have deep significance in rural America.

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The purpose of this article is to examine the hypothesis that the local community has an important influence in social control not withstanding the fact that within recent years numerous social changes suggest a different conclusion. In modern communities the various controls which are exerted over their inhabitants may be conveniently classified as legal and non-legal. In the former category such controls as laws, ordinances and regulatory measures of various kinds may be mentioned. They are definite and have general application. State laws apply to all communities within a commonwealth, and federal legislation is effective throughout the nation. Besides these there are numerous ordinances which are enacted in urban centers where community relationships become extremely varied and complex. The non-legal means of control custom, tradition, group opinions and even gossip play a very important part in local community life; in fact, their influence may be so great that legal enactments not in harmony with the informal controls just enumerated are enforced in a reluctant manner or, if possible, are ignored entirely.