A survey of approximately 300 U.S. rural development officials indicates that rural-based officials often had a greater appreciation of rural environmental quality of life features than did their urban-based counterparts. Suggests decentralizing rural development policy formation to the communities affected. (SV)

This study examines economic development in Third World countries and the use of portable video systems in development projects. The study, conducted in 1985, attempts to measure the level of effectiveness of videotape programs as a communication tool for training rural subsistence women in Honduras in technical aspects of pig-keeping. Classical…

Rural regional planning that will satisfy man's real needs, and not merely those of an economic nature, must take into consideration all factors, all possible interactions, and most important of all, those values which cannot be expressed in terms of money. The report details the functions and problems of rural areas revealed by analyses of rural…

From a report of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, presents the ingredients for a development program to help the world's poorest countries and people meet basic human needs. The program should include provisions for productivity and employment, food security, health services, lower rates of population growth, and…

If a new and effective rural policy is to be crafted, policymakers must realize that rural America has changed a great deal in recent years. To be sustainable, rural policy must be flexible enough to accommodate continuing changes in global structure; be sufficiently targeted to address the unique concerns found in diverse rural situations;…

While increased movement of industry into rural areas has whittled away at rural poverty in the United States, the question arises whether this transformation of rural landscape is good or bad. Evaluation should detail its effect on both human and natural resources. Though reduction of poverty is important to quality of life, increased…

Elements essential to an adequate framework for rural development in the U.S. are a national growth and development policy which includes a rural development strategy and definition of common problems and programmatic actions required to deal with them. Many past federal rural development programs (lacking a federal rural policy focus) have failed…

The paper examines family planning and nutrition needs as well as education and employment while exploring ideas of how an integrated approach is possible in promoting quality of both the reproductive and productive sphere of women's lives. It is suggested that understanding women's differential role will make it possible for planners, policy…

In much of the nonindustrialized world, women are the main providers of water, fuel, food, and other basic necessities, and thus often play the part of environmental managers. Because they are more directly connected to the environment, women are the most directly affected by environmental degradation, yet rarely have women been heard in…

The reversal in migration patterns in the 1970's resulting in a net population flow from metropolitan (urban) to nonmetropolitan (rural) areas may have a variety of rural development consequences. Sizeable population increase in rural communities which traditionally have experienced net out-migration or very slow increases is evident in Maine…

Assessing the potential impact of telecommunications technology upon rural economic development, this study for the Economic Development Administration (EDA) employs data assembled and analyzed from the following: "informed experts;" research information and demonstration projects; and federal legislation, research, and agency interests.…

Trends, strengths and assets, weaknesses and problem areas, goals, and public policy questions in the area of human relations and community life in rural New York state are presented with supporting statistics. Trends considered include rural and elderly rural population increases; suicide, homicide, and domestic violence rate increases; demands…

"Rural Sociology: A Field of Basic and Applied Research" was the theme of the 1977 annual meeting. Participants at the convention heard 50 reports in 14 sessions, as well as five special panels and two special sessions. Most of the papers, research reports and essays presented in the sessions are included in this document and serve as…

A research project in nine Iowa counties attempted to show local level decision makers how to use social indicator data to improve quality of life and increase accountability in policy making. Tools presented were descriptive social reporting (a mechanism for organizing descriptive, time series, social indicator data) and systematic needs…

Participants in a symposium on economic development in rural New York State analyzed existing strengths and weaknesses of the state's rural areas and made policy suggestions relating to three broad goals: (1) ease government constraints on rural businesses in order to encourage growth and development; (2) build on and strengthen the positive…