Rural sociology is intrinsically concerned with spatial dimensions of social life, but this underlying research tradition and its contributions to general sociology are little recognized. Concern with space, uneven development, and social relationships of peripheral settings have provided substantive boundaries and conceptual meaning to rural…

Summarizes key research implications of Three Mile Island and other major hazard events as related to tourism. Examines how the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository system will impact tourism in southern Nevada and other visitor-oriented rural counties bisected by planned waste transportation corridors. (AIM)

Changes such as the development of large international retail chains, retail concentration, locational changes, technological innovation, new labor practices, and the increasing scale of individual stores, have revolutionized the retail sector. This broad restructuring will have profound impacts in rural America because employment in retail is a…

The Dutch countryside forms the scene for pressing problems of management and allocation of land and water. These problems underscore the need for comprehensive rural policies. For that purpose, area-based rural policy has been initiated. This new policy is part of a larger policy shift, labelled in literature as "new rural governance".…

Controversy between two opposing factions have confused rural development policy formulation. Infrastructure advocates believe that the improvement of highways and sewer systems, as well as the provision of industrial park sites and industrial recruitment, are the keys to successful rural economic growth. Human resource development advocates…

Information in these guides was distributed to participants in the Communicating for Agriculture Rural Knowledge Bowl in ten states: Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Georgia, Montana, and Tennessee. The materials are designed for secondary students and deal with rural economic development and the impact of…

The study examines programs aimed at encouraging the economic, social, and cultural development of rural areas; the nature of activities undertaken and results achieved; major provisions of the new Rural Development Act; and directions which future policies and programs should take. A statement by the National Planning Association (NPA)…

The document has 3 goals (1) to examine the distribution of economic benefits of industrial development as reflected by the concept of competition in human ecology; (2) to provide an empirical test of the ecological model, and (3) to relate the findings to public policy. Two Illinois study areas were identified. First, as an experimental region,…

The article presents (1) a theoretical perspective describing rural development in the People's Republic of China which allows for generalization and comparison to the other developing rural settings, and (2) four conceptual systematic variables, a concrete policy variable, and a series of illustrative propositions linking them. (NQ)

Community leaders and physicians considering locating in rural communities need a method by which they can evaluate a community's potential for supporting a physician. A survey was conducted in 1986 of 25 physicians' practices in rural Oklahoma, with data collected on the number of patient visits and practice costs. (Author/MLW)

Compares influence of employment growth/diversity, commuting, retirement migration, income, unemployment, age structure, and adjacency with influence of nonfarm self-employment and percentage of labor force that is female on recent declines in nonmetropolitan growth rates. Suggests last two variables are more important determinants of…

Shortened version of Galpin's reminiscences published in 1936 recounts early days of rural sociology research and his subsequent service in the United States Department of Agriculture's Office of Farm Management. (LFL)

Describes transitions that farm families and students face and a strategy for school counselors when a student's problem is understood to be related to the family's transition as a result of the agriculture crisis. Summarizes transitions for adults and views students' school problems as behavioral metaphors for their parents' problems. (NB)

Introduces three types of agricultural policy dealing with the sustainability of society, the agricultural sector, and rural people and places. Outlines sustainability issues and special interest groups related to each policy type, common ground, and the impact on rural policy of the environment, economic change, physical infrastructure, social…

Employment and earnings increased in nonmetro areas during the 1990s, but less than in urban areas. The metro-nonmetro earnings gap reached a historical high in 1998 as businesses that used advanced technologies avoided rural locations where professional and skilled workers were in short supply. Metro and nonmetro employment and income data by…