Offers theses to encourage search for community in the changing countryside: because of its influence on social well-being, the community is alive; rural areas present special community development advantages/problems; strategies must address sources of rural problems in larger society; rural sociology can specify/measure parameters of rural…

The paper addresses the importance of developing a rural community's commercial sector for economic development by providing some analytical tools. Procedures are outlined to estimate commercial sector activity in a community, to estimate commercial sector activity for various counties within a state (Nevada is used as an example), and to develop…

Findings from current literature form the basis for this examination of five critical elements of change and development within the local community setting which impact on agriculture: population, employment, land, water, and environment. Renewed rural population growth during the 1970's has reversed small farm trends but placed strains on local…

Reviews socioeconomic impacts of rapid growth on rural areas in the western United States. Concludes that costs of development exceed benefits for some groups. Calls for research and policy initiatives to identify appropriate strategies to manage the growth and decline which are characteristic of changing rural areas. (LFL)

Asserts that, although research can be a powerful resource in guiding and fueling grass-roots social change, the community-based research enterprise often is contentious. Recommends collaborative research studies in which the researchers and practitioners work together from the project's inception. (CFR)