bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Semiological Value of Adversive Epilepsy
Authors: COTTE‐RITTAUD M. R. , COURJON J.
Published: August 2010

In a series of 300 electro‐clinical observations adversive epilepsy has been often encountered in children. The most frequent causes have been obstetric traumata, traumatic damage to the skull, atrophic cerebral lesions, more rarely tumours, abscess and meningo‐encephalitis.

Rarely isolated, the adversion of the head and eyes represents most frequently the onset of a generalised or partial motor seizure or a psychomotor seizure. It has proved unconscious twice as often as conscious.

The elective localisations of electric anomalies, ictal discharges or permanent anomalies have been the frontal region, then the temporal and occipital, diffuse anomalies of subcortical origin being equally frequent. Occipital localisations have been observed particularly in infants.

Seizures with a conscious beginning corresponded often to a frontal focus; from the outset unconscious seizures arose, rarely, from a prefrontal localisation, more readily from temporal or occipital anomalies or were of a deep origin. These results as a whole corroborate the classical data of Penfield. The rare ipsiversive seizures have sometimes assumed the type of seizures of the supplementary motor area with fronto‐vertical elective localisation; seizures with alternating adversion were equally often the expression of anomalies of the vertex.

The rare gyratory seizures, a major form of adversive epilepsy, have seemed to us to have often a subcortical origin.

RESUME

Dans une série de 300 observations électro‐cliniques, ľépilepsie adversive a été souvent rencontrée chez des enfants. Les causes les plus fréquentes en ont été les traumatismes obstétricaux, les traumatismes crâniens, les lésions atrophiques cérébrales, plus rarement des tumeurs, abcés et méningoencéphalites.

Rarement isolée, ľadversion de la tête et des yeux représente le plus souvent le début ďune crise motrice généralisée ou partielle ou ďune crise psychomotrice. Elle s'est avérée deux fois plus fréquemment inconsciente que consciente.

Les localisations électives des anomalies électriques, décharges critiques ou anomalies permanentes, ont été les régions frontales, puis temporales et occipitales, des anomalies diffuses ďorigine sous‐corticale étant également assez fréquentes. Les localisations occipitales ont été particulierément observées chez les nourrissons.

Les crises à début conscient correspondaient souvent à un foyer frontal; les crises ďemblée inconscientes relevaient rarement ďune localisation préfrontal, plus volontiers ďanomalies temporales ou occipitales ou ďune origine profonde. Ces résultats corroborent dans ľensemble les données classiques de Penfield. Les crises ipsiversives, rares, ont parfois revêtu le type de crises de ľaire motrice supplémentaire avec localisation élective fronto‐verticale; les crises avec adversion alternante se traduisaient également souvent par des anomalies sur le vertex.

Les rares srises ďenroulement, forme majeure ďépilepsie adversive, nous ont semblé avoir souvent une origine sous‐corticale.
Chronic Anticonvulsive Therapy, Peripheral Nerve Conduction Velocity, and EMG
Authors: Danner R. , Partanen V. J. , Riekkinen P.
Published: August 2010

Summary:Chronic, mentally subnormal epileptic patients were clinically and neurophysiologically studied in order to determine the occurrence and type of peripheral nerve dysfunction. We observed significant impairment of motor and sensory nerve conduction velocities and H‐reflex latencies. Amplitudes of sensory and motor responses were diminished. Motor distal latencies were not prolonged. Conclusive EMG signs of active denervation were not observed. The possible role of anticonvulsive treatment as an underlying noxa is discussed.

Des épileptiques chroniques, mentalement subnor‐maux, ont été cliniquement et neurophysiologiquement étudiés de façon à déterminer Tincidence et la type de dysfonction des nerfs périphériques. II a été observé: une altération significative des vitesses de conduction motrice et sensitive et des latences du réflexe H: une diminution de l'amplitude des réponses sensitives et motrices: un défaut de prolongation des latences motrices distales: une absence de signes EMG de dénervation active. Le rôle possible du traitement anti‐convulsif comme agent de cette dysfonction est discuté.

Se estudió un grupo de pacientes con epilepsia y retraso mental desde un punto de vista clinico y neuro‐fisiologico con objeto de determinar la incidencia y el tipo de disfunción nerviosa periférica. Observamos una anomalía significativa tanto en la velocidad de conducción motora y sensorial como en la latencia del reflejo H. Las amplitudes de las respuestas motoras y sensoriales estaban disminuidas, aunque las latencias motoras no estaban prolongadas. Signos electromiográficos de denervación activa no se vieron. El posible papel de los anticomiciales como agente patógeno es discutido.

Urn bei chronisch kranken, geistig retardierten epileptischen Patienten die Häufigkeit und die Art von Funktionsstörungen peripherer Nerven zu unter‐suchen, wurden klinische und neurophysiologische Untersuchungen durchgefuehrt. Wir beobachteten eine signifikante Verlangsamung motorischer und sen‐sorischer Nervenleitgeschwindigkeiten und eine signifikante Verlängerung der H‐Reflex Latenzzeit. Die Amplituden der sensorischen und motorischen Ner‐venaktionspotentiale waren verkleinert. Eine Verlängerung der motorischen distalen Latenzzeit wurde nicht beobachtet. Im EMG ergab sich kein sicherer Hinweis auf akute Denervationsaktivität. Die mog‐liche Ursache der chronischen antikonvulsiven Behandlung auf die periphere Nervenfunktion wird erörtert.
Residential and Racial Mortality Differentials in the South by Cause of Death1
Authors: Potter Lloyd B. , Galle Omer R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Mortality levels and differences by metropolitan‐nonmetropolitan residence for blacks and whites are examined in the South using life‐table techniques. Life tables are constructed for Southern subpopulations using U.S. vital statistics and census data for 1980, and differences in the life expectancies are decomposed by cause of death. Results suggest that life expectancy is higher for metropolitan and white populations. Racial mortality differences are slightly greater in metropolitan areas of the South when compared to the nonmetropolitan South. Residential mortality differences are attributable mainly to differences in the effects of heart disease and accidents. Most of the racial mortality difference is due to differences in effects of malignant neoplasms, cardiovascular disease, perinatal conditions, and homicide. Policy efforts aimed at specific causes of death in specific populations are suggested as a means of reducing racial or residential life expectancy differentials.
Timber, Minerals, and Social Change: An Exploratory Test of Two Resource‐Dependent Communities1
Authors: Machlis Gary E. , Force Jo Ellen , Balice Randy Guy
Published: August 2010

Abstract There are few empirical tests of the relationship between local resource production and community social systems. This paper reports the results of research on two communities in northern Idaho: one timber‐dependent, the other mining‐dependent. Data were collected for 13 indicators of resource production and 15 indicators of social change for periods up to 65 years. Regression analysis was used to test if community social change is associated with the production level of local resource systems. The final models support the hypothesis in both communities. The form, lag condition, and strength of the relationship is complex and may vary with the dependent indicator. The original causal image—the rural community with a social order that directly responds to changes in local resource production—is blurred. Suggestions are made for future research.
Identification of Ethnic Settlement Regions: Amish‐Mennonites in Ohio
Authors: Kent Robert B. , Neugebauer Randall J.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The persistence of ethnic settlement in rural regions of the United States is well documented. Yet, there has been little discussion of techniques which allow the identification of the geographic extent and concentration of distinctive ethnic populations. Amish‐Mennonite settlement constitutes a unique component of the rural landscape. A wide range of visual clues alert the observer to their presence, but without painstaking field surveys it is difficult to establish their geographic extent. This paper examines four approaches to the identification of Amish‐Mennonite settlement. These are county‐based population data on religious affiliation, the location of Amish church districts and Mennonite churches, topographic maps, and surnames and cadastral maps. Topographic maps proved unsuitable, but each of the other approaches produced reasonable approximations of the areal extent of Amish‐Mennonite settlement. Surnames and cadastral maps present good possibilities for the identification of other ethnic populations in rural regions.
Popular Images of “Rurality”: Data from a Pennsylvania Survey
Authors: Willits Fern K. , Bealer Robert C. , Timbers Vincent L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The meaning of rurality from the person‐on‐the‐street perspective was explored using data from a statewide telephone and mail survey of 1,241 Pennsylvania residents. Responses to 35 Likert items were factor analyzed and five factors were delineated: positive images of rural life, negative images of rurality, antiurbanism, agrarianism, and wilderness values. Widespread agreement with the positive images of rural life, antiurbanism, agrarianism, and wilderness values was found. Negative images of rurality were overwhelmingly rejected by the respondents. Rural dwellers were somewhat more positive in their attitudes toward all aspects of rurality than were urban or suburban residents. The relevance of these overall findings for rural development is suggested.
Beyond the Farmgate: Factors Related to Agricultural Performance in Two Dairy Communities1
Authors: Cruise James , Lyson Thomas A.
Published: August 2010

Abstract This study compares the logic of agricultural production across two dairy farming communities in the Northeast using a measure of agricultural performance as the dependent variable. Both communities have similar farm structural and environmental characteristics, but significantly different levels of agricultural performance. Our analysis indicates that dairy farmers in both communities are following the same basic path toward the optimization of milk production, but achieving quite different results. A comparison of structural factors shows that the high‐production community is in a more advantageous position than the low‐production community in terms of opportunities for formal education, access to markets, and proximity to an urban center. Acknowledgment of structural differences across agricultural communities is crucial to the development of adequate sociological theory, agricultural policy, and extension programming.
Measuring Adherence to Alternative vs. Conventional Agricultural Paradigms: A Proposed Scale*
Authors: Beus Curtis E. , Dunlap Riley E.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Current debates and conflicts in agriculture appear to reflect the competing perspectives of two increasingly distinct camps of agricultural stakeholders: proponents of “alternative agriculture” and proponents of “conventional agriculture.” Several analysts have argued that members of these two camps hold fundamentally divergent paradigms of agriculture, and thus, literally see the world quite differently. The purpose of this paper is to describe an instrument—the Alternative‐Conventional Agriculture Paradigm Scale (or ACAP Scale)—developed to measure the basic beliefs and values assumed to constitute the two competing perspectives in agriculture.

Items designed to tap all of the major dimensions identified in the alternative‐conventional agriculture debate were included in surveys of known groups of alternative and conventional agriculturalists, as well as in a statewide survey of farmers. The items discriminate significantly between the three samples (with the statewide farmer sample taking the intermediate position), suggesting their validity as measures of the elements of the competing agricultural paradigms. The items also exhibit a high degree of internal consistency, indicating the appropriateness of combining them into a single instrument to measure adherence to alternative versus conventional agriculture. As expected, the known groups provide more consistent responses than do the statewide sample of farmers, presumably reflecting the greater ideological coherence of social movement and interest group members. However, the alternative agriculturalists are far more consistent than are the conventional agriculturalists, and potential explanations for this finding are drawn from recent work on social movements.
On the Utility of Robust and Resampling Procedures1
Authors: Dietz Thomas , Kalof Linda , Frey R. Scott
Published: August 2010

Abstract Kassab (1990) makes an important methodological contribution by urging the use of robust regression methods in the study of community economic impacts and by indicating the utility of the bootstrap in assessing standard errors in robust regression. By introducing the notion of a contaminating distribution, we reconcile differences between her claim that ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is biased when outliers are present and standard linear model theory that does not make assumptions about the shape of the residual distribution in proving OLS an unbiased estimator. The contaminating distribution provides a framework for rural sociologists to link their statistical assumptions to a substantive understanding of the phenomena being studied. We suggest an alternative regression estimation strategy that may be more robust than the technique she uses. We also discuss an approach to bootstrapping that is more appropriate for macro‐level social indicator data than the one she describes. An appendix discusses the software available for implementing these methods.
Criminal Behavior and Rapid Community Growth: Examining the Evidence1
Authors: Freudenburg William R. , Jones Robert Emmett
Published: August 2010

Abstract Sociologists have disagreed sharply over whether rapid, resource‐related community growth leads to disproportionate increases in criminal activities. Enough studies have now accumulated, however, to permit a more comprehensive assessment. The existing studies fall into three categories. The first two, which employ county‐level data and victimization surveys, have encountered inconclusive and mixed results. By contrast, the 23 before‐and‐after comparisons in specific communities have been highly consistent: All but 2 of the 23 report greater increases in criminal activity than in population (p <.0001 by the sign test). The mean ratio of increased crime to increased population is over 4.4 to 1; regression analyses lead to more conservative ratios ranging as low as 3.2 to 1 and as high as 3.6 to 1. Despite considerable variations in approaches, methods, and study communities, sufficiently consistent findings show that simple regression equations explain 85–98 percent of the variance. The weight of the accumulated evidence indicates that increases in criminal behaviors are significantly more than proportional to increases in populations in rapid‐growth communities. Data from other studies would argue against a generic “social pathology” hypothesis; instead, the accumulated findings may best be explained by narrowly focusing on changes in community social structure that accompany rapid growth and result in impairment of informal social controls, particularly the declines in a community's density of acquaintanceship.
On the Edge of Homelessness: Rural Poverty and Housing Insecurity1
Authors: Fitchen Janet M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Homelessness in rural America is a problem hardly recognized, little understood, and only minimally studied by rural sociologists. This article, based on long‐term field research in upstate New York, sets the problem of rural homelessness in context, explains the increase in rural poverty that puts more people at risk of homelessness, and examines some trends in rural housing that reduce the ability of poorer residents to secure adequate shelter. The nature of housing insecurity and the strategies poor rural people use to keep themselves from becoming literally homeless are noted. Interviews and questionnaires conducted among insecurely‐housed low‐income people and interviews and records supplied by agencies and institutions serving the poor provide the information on which arguments are based. The conclusion is that the definition of homelessness should be broadened for rural usage to encompass poor people on the edge of or at high risk of homelessness; also, programs to assist the homeless and prevent homelessness must be appropriate for rural situations.
Addictive Economies: Extractive Industries and Vulnerable Localities in a Changing World Economy1
Authors: Freudenburg William R.
Published: August 2010

AbstractRaw material extraction once offered an effective route to economic development, but societal relationships with environment and technology have changed so fundamentally that extractive industries today appear more likely to lead rural regions to economic addiction. Key characteristics of addictive activities include rising costs of operation at most extractive facilities, combined with downward trends in world commodity prices. Key characteristics of vulnerable communities and regions include increasing geographic isolation, imbalances of scale and power with respect to extractive industries, and the absence of realistic alternatives for diversified development. Key pressures toward addiction are created by ambiguities that mask the addictive tendencies, including ambiguities of price signals, of employment and development possibilities for remote regions, and of resource exhaustion. The net result is that, while the encouragement to develop extractive industries is often coupled with advice to avoid developing an excessive dependency on a single economic sector, the very regions and nations having the greatest need to hear such advice may also have the lowest realistic ability to respond to it.
Rural Income‐Generating Programs and Fertility Limitation: Evidence from a Microdemographic Study in Nepal1
Authors: Axinn William G.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Participation in rural development programs that organize members into local cooperative groups can alter the decision‐making environment facing couples to reflect some of the negative consequences of childbearing. This study uses data from Nepal, collected through a combination of ethnographic and survey methods, to test the effects of participation in such a development program on fertility behavior. Results demonstrate that program participants are much more likely to use contraceptives to limit their fertility than are non‐participants. The study provides empirical support for theories linking this type of institutional change to fertility and indicates a policy option that can allow some negative consequences of childbearing to affect couples' fertility decisions.
The Correlates of Farm Concentration in American Agriculture
Authors: Albrecht Don E.
Published: August 2010

Abstract In recent years, the most pronounced change in the structure of American agriculture has been the increasing concentration of farm production. A human ecological perspective was used to generate hypotheses about the factors related to variations in farm concentration in U.S. counties. Analysis using the 1978 and 1987 Censuses of Agriculture revealed that concentration is greatest in counties with higher levels of agricultural intensity, greater use of mechanization, and greater use of farm labor.
Concern About Crime Among Montana Farmers and Ranchers1
Authors: Saltiel John , Gilchrist Jack , Harvie Robert
Published: August 2010

Abstract The effects of previous victimization, distance from law enforcement and neighbors, and sufficiency of police patrols on fear of crime are estimated using data from Montana farmers and ranchers. Victimization has the strongest direct effect. Distance from police and neighbors seems to heighten sensitivity to lesser police patrol activity in isolated areas, which in turn increases concern about criminal victimization. Fear of crime in rural farm areas reflects, in part, the spatial arrangements and related consequences of living in these regions.
Inscribing Gender in Rural Development: Industrial Homework in Two Midwestern Communities1
Authors: Gringeri Christina E.
Published: August 2010

Abstract A resurgence of informal economic work, such as home‐working, occurred in some rural areas during the 1970s and the 1980s. In two midwestern communities, an employer of industrial homeworkers was recruited in an effort to boost the local economy with new jobs. In these communities, ideas about women's roles in households and the labor market are crucial to the states' ability to couple industrial homeworking with rural community development. Industrial homeworking as development in the United States shows how development goals support and maintain the sexual division of labor in households and in the local labor market. Personal interviews and archival documents form the basis of the case study data. These data are content‐analyzed for themes about the process of development and the relationship of the local states and industrial firms.
Comparison of Amish and Non‐Amish Farmers: A Diffusion/Farm‐Structure Perspective1
Authors: Sommers David G. , Napier Ted L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Considerable attention has focused on farming practices and behavioral patterns that characterize Amish farmers from other agriculturalists. It has been suggested that Amish farmers are more concerned about the physical environment than non‐Amish farmers because Amish employ fewer technology‐intensive farming practices, though there is little empirical evidence to support such an assertion. To address this issue, data were collected from a sample of Amish and non‐Amish owner‐operators in Ohio to compare environmental attitudes and farming systems presently in use. Discriminant analysis was used to examine factors chosen to differentiate the two groups. Findings reveal that Amish respondents believed more strongly than other farmers that ground water pollution was an important environmental problem and that farmers should reduce chemical application rates to protect ground water resources. Other farmers exhibited greater willingness to participate in educational programs designed to reduce pesticide application rates. The two groups could not be differentiated by criteria used to make adoption decisions about farm technologies and farming practices; both used productivity and efficiency criteria when making adoption decisions.
Growth Promotion Activities in Rural Areas: Do They Make a Difference?1
Authors: Humphrey Craìg R. , Wilkinson Kenneth P.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Can leaders in small towns and surrounding areas actually influence local economic and demographic growth? Competing views but few studies of this issue characterize recent debates about the effects of “growth machines” in local areas. This paper uses alternative indicators of growth during the 1980s for a sample of local areas in rural Pennsylvania to examine the effects of development efforts, controlling ecological and structural characteristics. The analysis considers local participation in state programs and maintenance of a favorable business climate as well as measures of local growth promotion for business and industry, recreation and tourism, development of forest products, and services development. Hierarchical regressions, taking account of the statistically dominant effects of ecological and structural variables, show that local efforts can influence local growth.
Agricultural Restructuring and the Spatial Dynamics of U.S. Women's Employment in the 1970s1
Authors: Padavic Irene
Published: August 2010

Abstract The spatial rearrangement of women agricultural workers' employment across 380 labor market areas is examined during the period of agricultural transformation in the 1970s. Labor market maps of women's employment changes show regional declines and increases in accord with the dynamics of agricultural industrialization. Case studies selected from the maps demonstrate the gender‐specific and locality‐specific ramifications of these transformations.
Economic Conditions, Spouse Support, and Psychological Distress of Rural Husbands and Wives1
Authors: Lorenz Frederick O. , Conger Rand D. , Montague Ruth B. , Wickrama K. A. S.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Previous studies of the relation between economic conditions and psychological stress among farm operators are extended by comparing farming and nonfarming husbands' and wives' depressive symptoms and by including spouse support as both a mediating and a moderating variable. Using three waves of data from the Iowa Youth and Families Project, the analyses found few differences between farmers and nonfarmers, but the relation between economic pressure and distress operates differently for husbands and wives. For husbands, wives' support buffers the relation between economic pressure and husbands' sense of control over events in their lives, which in turn reduces depression. For wives, husbands' support both directly reduces their depression and buffers the effects of economic pressure on depression by weakening the relation between sense of control and feelings of depression.
Farm Structure and Economic Well‐Being: A Look at Three Methodological Sins
Authors: Gilles Jere , Geletta Simon
Published: August 2010

Abstract Sociologists have increasingly turned to secondary data sources to study social and economic change. As our experience in this area increases, so should our methodological rigor. Three common methodological sins—model mis‐specification, inattention to regional influences, and fuzzy operationalizations—are illustrated through a critique of Barnes and Blevins' (1992) study of farm structure and economic well‐being in nonmetropolitan areas. This paper argues, and demonstrates empirically, that many of Barnes and Blevins' conclusions are suspect because they did not include ethnic and regional variables in their regression studies.
Women as Farm Landlords: Does Gender Affect Environmental Decision‐Making on Leased Land?
Authors: Rogers Denise M. , Vandeman Ann M.
Published: August 2010

The 1988 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey allows a more thorough analysis of the role of women as farmland owners. Women farmland owners are predominately nonoperators—that is, they rent their land to others. This analysis focuses on whether gender affects landlord participation in the selection of fertilizer and chemicals on leased land. Findings indicate that women landlords are less likely than men to participate in this management decision.
Regulating Land Development: Local Market Structures and Structured Markets
Authors: Marsden Terry , Murdoch Jonathan , Flynn Andrew
Published: August 2010

Current rounds of economic restructuring together with the changing priorities accorded to agricultural production are leading to significant shifts in rural property and tenure relations. This paper analyzes these processes with reference to rural Britain; it reports on empirical evidence collected in the county of Buckinghamshire in southeast England. Two significant types of new rural land development are considered—small‐scale industrial units arising out of the conversion of agricultural buildings and golf course developments and their ancillary leisure‐based activities. Post‐war productionist forms of regulation and particularly established types of agricultural tenure are now being modified by farmers and nonagricultural interests committed to the development of rural land. New demands and market structures are requiring more diversity and flexibility by which land is owned, occupied, and used. These emergent, more flexible macro tenures are based on new sets of social and political alliances between farmers, developers, and local planning systems. Agricultural land is increasingly being viewed as a capital rather than as a productive asset associated with more volatile and regionally defined markets whose regulation is formative.
The Goldschmidt Hypothesis in Chile1
Authors: Young Frank W.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The claim that large farms with hired labor undermine community institutions and reduce average welfare while family farms enhance these dimensions is tested in the context of Chile's expanding large‐scale export agriculture. The expected negative effect of scale shows up statistically but then disappears when an appropriate regional control is introduced. However, further analysis reveals a negative rural production effect that withstands this control and sets the stage for a competitive test. The counter hypothesis explored rejects production organization of any size as causal, proposing instead that two dimensions of provincial structure‐urban differentiation and pluralism‐interact with efficient production organization, seen as an ad hoc factor, to determine welfare levels. A partial test of this structural mediation model explains much of the variance of infant mortality (the criterion of welfare). Scale has no effect.
Nonmetropolitan Residential Segregation Revisited
Authors: Murdock Steve H. , Hwang Sean‐Shong , Hoque Md. Nazrul
Published: August 2010

Abstract Nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) residential segregation in 1990 and change in the preceding decade have received insufficient attention. A set of empirical hypotheses are derived and assessed using nonmetro and metropolitan (metro) counties in Texas. Places in nonmetro counties were more segregated than places in metro counties in 1990 as in 1980. Substantial declines in segregation occurred in both nonmetro and metro places but were largest in growing places in nonmetro counties. An analysis controlling for other determinants of segregation supports the premise that population change was a major determinant of 1980–1990 change in segregation. Implications for nonmetro areas in the 1990s are discussed.
Residential Mobility Among the Rural Poor1
Authors: Fitchen Janet M.
Published: August 2010

Abstract This article explores frequent, short‐distance residential movement, an underrecognized and little studied aspect of rural poverty. In recent field research in high‐poverty communities of upstate New York, residential movement was studied through institutional records and staff interviews as well as unstructured interviews and residential histories in low‐income families. Overall, residential mobility is driven by the shortfall between household income and housing costs, and by changes in personal situations and partnering relationships. Higher frequency movement is associated with younger age, fewer children, and weaker social support networks but most moves were not job‐related. Utilizing an abbreviated version of the same methodology, scoping research was conducted in high‐poverty areas of nine other states; some differences and also some similarities span diverse regional, economic, and ethnic settings. For developing policy and programs to reduce mobility and minimize its negative consequences, more research on this phenomenon is needed.
Economic Attitudes and Responses to Siting Hazardous Waste Facilities in Rural Utah1
Authors: Bourke Lisa
Published: August 2010

Abstract The siting of hazardous waste facilities has become a critical problem for the United States. Many western states are plagued with proposals to site such facilities. While the host communities appear to be typical western rural communities, responses to siting hazardous waste facilities vary. Previous research suggests that key variables in predicting responses are the anticipation of economic benefits and the perception of risk. This paper proposes that response to siting hazardous industries in rural Utah is not only a result of these key variables but also residents' perception of the local economy. Results from ethnographic and survey data from three rural communities in Utah indicate that the anticipation of economic benefits and perception of risk were strongly associated with response to a proposal, and that residents of communities with poorer local economies were more likely to support siting a hazardous waste facility locally.
Labor Substitution in Philippine Rice Farming Systems: An Analysis of Gender Work Roles1
Authors: Tisch S. J. , Paris T. R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract The effect of rice technology adoption on gender work roles of husbands and wives is examined in two rice ecosystems in the Philippines. Technology use is likely to be less labor‐constrained if the work roles of men and women are flexible. Labor substitution between farming husbands and wives then occurs in response to economic pressures rather than being restricted by predetermined gender roles. The analysis of farm‐level data from four villages indicates that work roles are more fluid than suspected and labor substitution occurs between husbands and wives in response to economic opportunities. The adoption of the labor‐saving direct‐seeded rice technique releases wives' labor on partially‐irrigated rice farms more than on rainfed rice farms.
Territory Contested Through Property in a Midwestern Post‐Agricultural Community1
Authors: Salamon Sonya , Tornatore Jane B.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Post‐agricultural rural communities are emerging in the Midwest as a consequence of regional economic restructuring. Such communities are dominated by residents without economic or social links to those who operate surrounding farms. An ethnographic study of an Illinois hamlet provides a case study for probing the assertion that property issues, more than occupation or family background, shape social relations in post‐agricultural communities. Described is a variant of a post‐agricultural community termed downscale due to an inmigration of working‐poor families attracted by deteriorated, surplus housing. Examined are why and how a village of 200 became a highly contested territory where the struggle between newcomers and the old guard about differing notions of respectability became symbolized by conflict over the appearance and use of private and public property.
Farming Practices and Adherence to an Alternative‐Conventional Agricultural Paradigm1
Authors: Allen John C. , Bernhardt Kevin
Published: August 2010

Can a farmer's paradigmatic attitudes predict the actual production system used? Data on actual production practices were collected from a statewide random sample of agricultural producers in Nebraska and used to evaluate the research question. Findings suggest that a relationship does exist between production practices and world view, with specific attitudes related to agricultural production practices. These attitudes are especially salient when it comes to the importance of community in maintaining quality of life among agricultural producers.
Inshopping by Residents of Small Communities1
Authors: Pinkerton James R. , Hassinger Edward W. , O'Brien David J.
Published: August 2010

With improvements in transportation and communication, rural consumers no longer are limited to their local trade center and personal factors become more important in shaping consumer patterns. With data from residents in two small rural communities in northwestern Missouri, this study examines the effects of consumers' socioeconomic characteristics, personal location situations, and community satisfaction on buying within the local community (inshopping) versus in other communities (outshopping) for selected goods and services. Age is the socioeconomic variable most strongly related to inshopping. Residing in the center versus open country, jobholders outside the community, and residing in the more viable community are related to shopping for certain of the goods and services as is satisfaction with the community. Location remains an important influence on shopping behavior but it needs to be conceptualized differently.
A Technological Science Perspective for Sociology1
Authors: Warner W. Keith , England J. Lynn
Published: August 2010

AbstractThe traditional positivist model is an inadequate foundation for sociology as a science. The phenomena of society differ from the phenomena assumed by positivism and existing in the world of nature in ways that prevent the successful use of that traditional approach. Agency, the ability to choose among alternatives where the choice makes an important difference, exists in social phenomena but has no counterpart in nature and cannot be dealt with adequately by positivism. A technological science perspective is suggested as an alternative for a science of sociology that can deal with the reality and importance of agency. Eight differences between the traditional perspective and the alternative are sketched. The alternative requires changes in the kind of generalized knowledge produced and the way it is produced, accumulated, and refined. The changes, though seemingly small, would produce a major reconstruction of much of sociology; such changes could result in important progress by the field of sociology.
Environmental and Resource Sociology: Theoretical Issues and Opportunities for Synthesis1
Authors: Battel Frederick H.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Rural sociologists have been disproportionately represented among the major contributors to environmental sociology. In part, this is because several areas of longstanding rural sociological interest (e.g., sociology of resource management and outdoor recreation, studies of resource‐dependent communities) essentially came to be redefined as environmental sociology during the 1970s. The most significant role of rural sociologists in building environmental sociology, however, has perhaps been the fact that the material and biophysical nature of the phenomena they have traditionally studied contributed to a general predisposition to recognize the “materiality” of social structure and social life. I assess the major strategies that have been developed for theorizing this materiality, and then indicate some of the most critical lines of debate and dissension. I argue that if these debates are examined in their specifics—rather than as incompatible perspectives or “paradigms”—some opportunities for synthesis become apparent. Some suggested avenues of synthesis are set forth.
Understanding Persistent Poverty: Social Class Context in Rural Communities1
Authors: Duncan Cynthia M.
Published: August 2010

AbstractUrban and rural poverty researchers have been paying increased attention to the social context in which the poor are embedded. This paper argues that the scale, familiarity among social actors, and relatively bounded nature of poor rural communities offer unique advantages for understanding why poverty persists across generations in the same places. Rural sociologists can observe the social interaction associated with particular class and race relations, track the evolution of these patterns over time, and uncover the process through which the social class context perpetuates poverty and underdevelopment. Studies of poverty in rural Texas, rural Mississippi, and Appalachia are reviewed to illustrate how political economies that rely on low wages and extreme control over labor generate rigid stratification. This structure of inequality determines social interaction and the allocation of opportunities in rural communities, blocking upward mobility, and undermines investment and trust in social institutions, blocking development.
Understanding Race and Ethnicity in Rural America1
Authors: Snipp C. Matthew
Published: August 2010

Abstract Rural sociologists have an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the race and ethnic relations literature by focusing on the unique social position of minority communities in rural areas. Reservations, colonias, and rural African‐Americans in the South are located in close proximity to the historic institutions established for their exploitation and oppression—slavery, for example. As such, these communities represent a legacy from which much can be learned. The potential impact of this work is readily seen in the context of the past contributions of rural sociologists. This discussion concludes with a review of the work of scholars studying race and ethnicity in rural areas in the early, middle, and later years of the discipline of rural sociology.
Drudges, Helpers and Team Players: Oral Historical Accounts of Farm Work in Appalachian Kentucky1
Authors: Scott Shaunna L.
Published: August 2010

Abstract Based upon oral history interviews with 49 agriculturalists from Harlan and Letcher Counties, Kentucky, this paper documents the gender division of labor among these farm families, from the 1920s through the present. It also compares 17 wives' and husbands' accounts of farm work. While these data generally conform to patterns documented in previous sociological investigations of gender roles on family farms, a comparison of men's and women's accounts of farm work and life suggests several issues relevant to research on gender and farm families. First, women and men differ in their descriptions of work and in the words they use to describe farm ownership. In addition, men's discussions of the work of their wives, sisters, and daughters vary significantly from their descriptions of the work of their mothers and grandmothers. And, finally, these accounts suggest that there are gender differences in attitudes toward farming. Each of these areas raises questions that merit further empirical investigation.
Community Attachment in a Rural Setting: A Refinement and Empirical Test of the Systemic Model1
Authors: Beggs John J. , Hurlbert Jeanne S. , Haines Valerie A.
Published: August 2010

Abstract As they examine the complex issues currently facing rural America, rural sociologists draw increasingly on studies of community attachment. Because this research tradition has established the superiority of the systemic model, recent studies in rural and urban settings have focused on the conceptualization and operationalization of its components. We introduce four operational refinements to this model, and we test our refined model with data from one geographic area in south‐west Louisiana. We find that, although our operational refinements improve our understanding of community attachment, additional refinements are necessary. We conclude by exploring the implications of community attachment studies for attempts to revitalize community in rural settings.
Local Dependency, Land Use Attitudes, and Economic Development: Comparisons between Seasonal and Permanent Residents1
Authors: Green Gary P. , Marcouiller David , Deller Steven , Erkkila Daniel , Sumathi N. R.
Published: August 2010

Abstract For many rural communities in the United States, tourists and retirees make a major contribution to the local economy. The role of recreational home ownership in these communities is not well understood. We examine the attitudes toward land use controls and local economic development among seasonal and permanent residents. We compare growth machine and local dependency theory explanations for support of land use controls and growth activities. Based on focus groups and survey data collected from seasonal and permanent residents of a northern Wisconsin county, we find that full‐time (permanent) residents are much more supportive of local economic development activities and less likely to favor land use planning than are seasonal residents. Socioeconomic differences between seasonal and permanent residents do not explain away the variation between the two groups in these attitudes. Among seasonal residents, support for land use controls declines as they spend more time at their lake homes. The results tend to support Cox and Mair's local dependency thesis.
Growth and Locational Impacts for Housing in Small Communities
Authors: Ziebarth Ann , Prochaska‐Cue Kathleen , Shrewsbury Bonnie
Published: August 2010

Abstract Many Americans believe that small rural communities are ideal places to live. They assume that small rural communities offer a safe environment, a supportive community, and affordable housing. In contrast, research indicates that rural households are more likely to live in unsuitable or inadequate housing and have lower incomes, making affordable housing difficult to obtain. Although there are data highlighting regional or urban‐rural differences, very little research has been conducted on the housing situation among small rural communities. The research presented here explores housing availability and affordability in 589 Midwestern communities. Findings indicate that, based on the community's growth and location, there are significant quantitative housing affordability and availability differences among small communities. However, these differences were contradicted by focus group discussions that indicated key similarities of housing concerns across small communities. The findings have potential impacts for public policy implementation in small communities.
The Nonmetro/metro Context of Racial/ethnic Outmarriage: Some Differences between African Americans and Mexican Americans1
Authors: Cready Cynthia M. , Saenz Rogelio
Published: August 2010

Abstract Data from the 1990 U. S. Census are used to examine nonmetro‐metro distinctions in the outmarriage patterns of the nation's two largest minority groups—African Americans and Mexican Americans. The analysis is guided by a multilevel model combining individual‐ and community‐level determinants of outmarriage. Consistent with notions suggesting that persons in metro areas are less traditional and, perhaps, more tolerant of those different from them, we find that African Americans living in metro areas are more likely to be married to someone from another racial/ethnic group than their peers in nonmetro areas, even after residential differences in individual and community characteristics are taken into account. On the other hand, controlling for other factors, Mexican Americans living in metro areas are not any more likely than those living in nonmetro settings to be exogamous. One possible explanation for this divergent pattern is the relatively recent urbanization of the Mexican American population.
Consequences of Population Change for Retail/Wholesale Sector Employment in the Nonmetropolitan Great Plains: 1950–19961
Authors: Adamchak Donald J. , Bloomquist Leonard E. , Bausman Kent , Qureshi Rashida
Published: August 2010

Abstract A rural economic restructuring perspective and central place theory are used to assess the impact of population change on retail/wholesale sector employment for the 438 nonmetropolitan counties of the Great Plains region from 1950 to 1990. Findings indicate that county level population declined for every decade except the 1970 turnaround decade, and the greatest losses were in completely rural nonadjacent counties. The civilian labor force declined for all but the 1970 decade, when there was a substantial increase due to increased nonmetro manufacturing and the baby boom cohorts reaching labor force age. Retail/wholesale labor force increased in every decade except the 1980s. However, regression analysis found a positive and highly significant relationship between population change and retail/wholesale employment change. For this region, population decline is a major contributor to decline in the retail/wholesale employment sector at the county level. Preliminary data from the 1990–1996 period indicate a population and labor force rebound from the 1980s. However, as in the 1980s, gains are most likely concentrated in a small number of mainly urban nonadjacent counties.