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Presents a letter to the editor about Lee Taylor's position paper on rural sociology.

This article comments on the position papers in the June 1967 issue of Rural Sociology. The author asserts that the papers are a mark of growing maturity of the rural sociology profession. It took years before the state universities and colleges assumed the dominant role of that they have achieved in the development of rural sociology. Contributions of the early sociologists to the applied field are presented to emphasize their historical value.

Rural sociologists are concerned about the present status, the crucial issues, and the future of their group. In 1963, the Committee on the Development of Rural Sociology developed a preliminary list of major issues facing rural sociologists. With the approval of the Council, the members of the committee decided to prepare a set of working papers on some of these major issue areas. These papers would attempt to define more clearly the assumptions, dimensions, and issues, to present different points of view, and to suggest alternative definitions or positions and their probable consequences. Thus, it was hoped that the working papers would provide a structure from which more effective discussion would develop.

This article presents the papers to be discussed at the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological Society in East Lansing, Michigan on September 5, 1956. At the session, each author will present a brief summary of his paper; after each summary there will be first a discussion by members of a panel, and then a general discussion from the floor. The three authors discuss values held by people in the Far East, Latin America, and the Middle and Near East, respectively, in relation to the technical cooperation programs intended to initiate social and technological changes which will improve the well-being of host countries.

The article discusses the article "A Comparison of Three Measures of Socioeconomic Status," by George A. Lundberg and Pearl Friedman. According to the author, "Validity" in the article refers to a covariation of a set of observations obtained in one way and another set of observations obtained in some other way. But, this should be added: the second set of observations, the "validating" data, must refer to the materials with which one is directly concerned. For example, it is commonly asserted that if people wish to validate a sociometric scale they may correlate the results obtained through its use with the results obtained through the use of another sociometric scale. These and kindred problems are immediately brought into sharp focus by a comparison of three measures of socio-economic status. A comparison presupposes some criterion, otherwise it can only resolve itself into a series of statements to the effect that "those things differ in the following respects, which raises the question of "What of it? The Guttman weights were assigned entirely on the basis of the correlation between the item and a status factor which was carefully defined as the factor common to education, occupation, income and participation. If it can be shown that these weights are not valid according to the same assumptions, on another sample, then the weights can be criticized.

The article presents information on Southern Policy Papers issued by the Southern Policy Committee in cooperation with the Institute for Research in Social Science, the University of North Carolina, North Carolina. In first paper, "Southern Population and Social Planning," by T.J. Woofter Jr. stresses the implications of the relatively high rates of population increase in the southern states of the U.S., especially among the Whites. These increases have upset the balance of Whites and Afro-Americans in urban employment. Which lead to reduced southern wages as compared with other regions, upset the southern age distribution by drawing off the productive middle-aged and talented groups, tended to create a hotbed discontent and created an unemployed-youth problem. The second report, "Social Security for Southern Farmers," by H. Clarence Nixon depicts unsatisfactory economic and social conditions which confront the southern farmer. The abolition of the tenant-cropper system, revision of tariffs, and utilization of social insurance is advocated.

The article presents information related to upcoming events on rural sociology. The Program Committee for the Rural Sociological Society announces a call for papers for the annual meeting to be held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, from August 25-27, 1972. Submission of papers is required by April 1, 1972. Abstract and text should be sent to Rabel J. Burdge, Program Chairman, Department of Sociology. University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506. A series of workshops is planned on topics of current interests to encourage more active participation in the program. This years program will reduce the number of formal presentations. Papers will be made available for distribution prior to the meeting. Graduate students are asked to submit papers to any session. Sessions organized by graduate students will review papers from all sources. The other information is that J.L. Charlton has directed a study now published by the University of Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station. The co-author, Joseph F. Singer, also used the data for a Ph.D. disseration in economics, Charlton is currently directing a study of factors affecting the use of medical services in three subregions of Arkansas.

The article presents a list of books on various topics. Some of the books are: "Die drei Epochen der deutschen Agrargeschichte," by Wilhelm Abel; "Recent Population Trends in the United States With Emphasis on Rural Areas," by Calvin L. Beale and Donald J. Bogue; "Education, Skill Level, and Earnings of the Hired Farm Working Force of 1961," by James D. Cowhig; "Kenosha County, Wisconsin, Study: Role and Function of Selected Public Institutions in a Changing Society," by Norma L. Eroen, Wayne H. Weidemann and Douglas G. Marshall; "Chronic Illness, Disability, and Aging in Morrison County, Minnesota," by Gary D. Hansen; "Farm Labor Demand," by Earl O. Heady and Stanley S. Johnson; "Young Farm Families: Their Income, Expenditures, Satisfactions, and Needs," by Christine H. Hillman; "Rural Nonfarm Families in the Clay Hills of Mississippi--Incomes and Resources," by Christine H. Hillman; "Adolescents: Their Interests, Aspirations, and Models," by M.E. John and Kathleen Moyer; "Occupational Plans of Iowa Farm Boys," by Donald R. Kaldor, Eber Eldridge, Lee G. Burchinal and I.W. Arthur; etc.

The article presents a reply to Genevieve Knupfer and Robert K. Merton for their comment on the article "A Comparison of Three Measures of Socioeconomic Status," by the author and his colleague. According to the author the basis for the criticism of the article by Knupfer and Merton, is a complete misunderstanding of the purpose of the original paper. The critics are clearly under the impression that the article contends that a mere comparison of the scores of different scales enables the author and his colleague to pronounce upon the validity of one or all of the scales. They thought they had made the opposite point when they point out that it is quite futile to argue whether a given case is more properly rated by one scale or the other because this will depend entirely on what criteria of validation they adopt. The advisability or wisdom of adopting some criteria rather than others will be determined by the results each yields in relation to the theory, the hypothesis, or purpose of the research. The critics devote a long and eloquent first paragraph to the doctrine that a scale must have a specified purpose, "measurement of what for what." It seems superfluous to call attention to all the places where the author have vigorously emphasized the importance of clearly defined theory, hypotheses, problems, purposes, etc., in all scientific activities whatsover and in the construction of scales in particular.

The article focuses on the annual meeting of the Rural Sociological society. This is not a new experience, but some of the changes that are taking place in rural sociology programs and in society indicate that the need for discussion is not yet satisfied. This is also one way of reaching the many members, subscribers, and readers who axe unable to attend the Society meetings, and of including them in the circle of discourse. Accordingly, few persons from various sections of the country and one to represent a view of rural sociology as it exists outside the U. S. to offer some of their views on important issues in the future of rural sociology were invited. They were asked to respond briefly and quickly enough for the papers to be presented in the June issue before the 1969 meeting.

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Highlights of the 1971 annual meeting of the Rural Sociology Section of Association of Southern Agricultural Workers; Call for papers for the 1971 annual meeting of the society to be held in Denver, Colorado on August 27 to 29, 1971; Programs and projects of the society.

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Call for papers for the 1969 annual meeting of the society; Tentative session topics; Best dissertations in rural sociology for the years 1967 and 1968.

This paper describes an attempt to use a theoretical framework of social action to analyze and describe how a small community in the Lead Belt of Missouri acquired fire protection through volunteer group effort. The analysis showed that a theoretical social action model is a useful tool for studying the group processes involved in community development. The results indicate that a community development contest acts as a catalytic agent in stimulating volunteer group efforts toward the improvement of physical facilities in a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes some adaptations made by the small town newspaper in Washington to the social and cultural changes occurring in the rural environment. Among these adjustments are: a stability in numbers has been reached, although at the expense of some loss of per capita circulation strength; a reduction in the number of two-newspaper towns; an increase in the size of the newspaper page; a shift from Saturday to Thursday as the second most important day of publication; a decreased interest in political parties and policies; a concentration on local news, particularly of persons and organizations. These trends suggest certain observations on the process of change and adaptation in social institutions, which by nature are slow to change: (1) adjustment to change is forced upon an institution by the inroads of competing agencies; (2) the stimulus to change comes from without, not from within the institution; and (3) changes in any one of the four elements of any institution, (a) rank and file membership, (b) leadership, (c) physical structure and equipment, and (d) pattern of attitudes lending sanction to the operation of the institution, will evoke changes and adpatations in the structure and functions of the institution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's reply to comments by Robert C. Bealer and Thomas R. Ford on his article "The Rural-Urban Variable: An Urbanite's Perspective." The author says that Bealer contrasts his position with that of Richard Dewey, as expressed in the latter's paper "The Rural-Urban Continuum: Real But Relatively Unimportant." Dewey's views stem from a consideration of the subject by eighteen authors of textbooks in urban sociology. The author is puzzled by Bealer's insistence upon the logical necessity of a focus on social-psychological variables. Certainly one can spend much effort analyzing the characteristics of communities without taking on the added burden of accounting for individual behavior. The author is content, at least for the moment, to leave such questions as the explanation of those persistent traits that rural-dwellers may carry with them when they move to the city to his colleagues in social psychology. All in all, the author takes Bealer's passionate remarks on the necessity for seeking global generalizations to be merely symptomatic of the present time.

The article presents a discussion on migration rate in the U.S. with reference to the paper by James D. Traver and William R. Gurley which is based on use of multiple regression model in demographic and sociological research. It suggests that if net migration rates is to be explained or sources influencing migration are to be found, the joint influence of two or more variables should be measured as median family income, median years of schooling, percent adults who have completed four or more years of high school, county net migration rates. It views that two highly intercorrelated measures of education are used in the paper which results in measuring the same things again. It is also suggested that a variable representing natural increase should be introduced to calculate the migration rate because areas with high natural increase rates are more likely to lose population by migration whereas areas with low natural increase rates are more likely to gain population by migration. It is viewed that despite of these problems also, the paper is able to handle some very complex and difficult problems.

A systematic theory of the nature of suburban social structure within an organizational frame of reference is subjected to an empirical test. Major hypotheses derived from the general theory were supported by the analysis. A methodological contribution was achieved by combining analysis of census data with analysis of sample survey data. A chain of relationships between social structure and politics has been demonstrated through interposition of organizational theory between the regularities of mass data at the census tract level and of individual data at the sample survey level. [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.

This paper (1) evaluates the preparatory communications to parents about the 1954 polio vaccine tests in a local suburban and rural area, (2) assesses parental reactions to the communications and to the vaccine program itself, and (3) examines the hypothesis that socioeconomic status is a significant factor in determining how persons receive, evaluate, and respond to communications on a public health measure. Higher-status parents compared to lower-status parents received much more information both favorable and unfavorable to the polio vaccine program and reacted more critically to the unfavorable information. A substantially greater proportion of high- than of low-status mothers permitted their children to participate in the program. This paper suggests that the media for communicating on science and medicine tend to be middle-class oriented and middle-class received. The significant question is: how can communications on health measures be designed, directed, and channeled so that large numbers of persons in all social groups will be reached and influenced? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the research papers published in this issue of the journal "Rural Sociology." The first paper by James H. Copp represents a stage in the maturation of research on farm practice acceptance. It is one of the first attempts to compare the results of studies conducted in different agricultural regions. Using data from Wilkening's study in Wisconsin and from his own study in Kansas, he developed comparable measures of certain personal, social, and economic variables. Another paper by Copp and colleagues deals with the informational aspect of the acceptance of new farm practices. They attempt essentially to specify the function of information sources in the adoption process. By asking a series of questions about the sources of information at various times, from the awareness of a new practice until its adoption, they find that institutionalized sources tend to perform a function separate from that of noninstitutionalized sources. The study by Charles R. Hoffer and Dale Stangland is a worthy attempt to take into account the farmer's value orientations as they affect his adoption of practices.

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 examines the relationship between formal and informal participation of individuals in three Pennsylvania rural communities. Data concerning the range and intensity of informal activities were used to test the hypothesis that a positive relationship exists between formal and informal participation of individuals in rural society. In general, this hypothesis was substantiated by the evidence on eighteen selected types of informal activities. However, more research is needed, not only on the roles played within various informal groups but also on participation in other areas of informal activities than those reported in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information about developments in various universities and colleges in the field of sociology. Two papers of W. A. Anderson of Cornell University on Rural Social Participation and the Family Life Cycle have been published by the Agricultural Experiment Station as Memoirs 314 and 318. They deal with the relationship of stages in the family life cycle to formal and informal family participation. He has also published a study entitled "Social Change and an Urban Fringe Area." Anderson is working with city and town officials in Ithaca, New York on problems of city expansion and fringe-area incorporation. A Study of Some Factors Associated with Family Informal Participation has been issued as Department Bulletin 36. Department Bulletin 39, "Eight Case Illustrations of Low Formal Participation," and Department Bulletin 40, "Eight Case Illustrations of High Formal Participation," are other recent publications. He has also revised the bibliography of the department. The Government of Brazil, in June, conferred upon T. Lynn Smith of the University of Florida, the Order of the Southern Cross. Smith has spent several years in Brazil, on assignment by the U. S. Department of State, as a visiting professor at the University of Brazil, and as advisor on agrarian reform to the Minister of Agriculture and the National Commission on Agrarian Policy.

Although Rural Sociology has published a number of papers written by social scientists from outside the United States, it appears that many such social scientists have not known that it was appropriate for them to submit papers for consideration by the Journal's Board of Editors. Just as membership in the Rural Sociological Society is open to any person in any country who is employed in the field of rural sociology or who is interested in promoting the development of rural sociology through research, teaching, or extension work, so it is the intent of Rural Sociology to be an international medium of communication in the field of rural sociology. The Board of Editors takes this opportunity to invite the submission of papers to the Managing Editor by rural sociology workers outside the United States. The Board of Editors takes this opportunity to invite the submission of papers to the Managing Editor by rural sociology workers outside the United States. The Annual Meetings of the Rural Sociological Society was called to order at 11:00 a.m. by Howard W. Beers, president. Minutes of the September 2-3, 1951, meetings are published in the December, 1951, issue of the Rural Sociology accepted as printed.

The article focuses on several books. "Farm Mechanization, Progress and Economic Problems," by A.M. Aycock. The report shows world trends in the adoption of factory-produced farm machinery; "Cooperative and Fundamental Education," by Maurice Colombain. The monograph deals with the problem of thrift and credit, the problem of purchasing; "Basic Problems of Plantation Labour: Committee on Work on Plantations," This report deals with the background and nature of plantations, recruiting and engagement of labor; "Planning Rural Community School Buildings," by Frank W. Cyr and Henry H. Linn. This publication is sponsored by the National Council of Chief State School Officers. It contains numerous floor plans and front elevations for rural school buildings of modern types.

The thesis of this paper is that farm tenancy is an attempted adaptation of land and other resources to human needs through definite socially sanctioned institutional channels. Thus far, however, sociological research, in farm tenancy has been incidental for the most part. Hence there is a need for more specific research on tenancy as a purely sociological phenomenon or as a pattern of social adjustment. The principal task of the paper is, therefore, to set up definite general propositions or hypotheses to be tested by research. In all, fifteen propositions are positioned which purport to cover, if not the entire sociology of farm tenancy, at least its major aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's comments on the article "The Rural-Urban Variable: An Urbanite's Perspective," by Leo F. Schnore. The main point the author wishes to make concerns the nature of what is called the rural-urban variable or continuum. Upon closer analysis, it is apparent that this so-called continuum is at best a partially-ordered scale in that rural-urban status is defined by a variety of sub-attributes or elements which cannot be translated into the same scale order. The author wholly agrees with the conclusion of Otis Dudley Duncan, which Schnore quotes in his paper that very precise research cannot be done until more refined measures are developed. The crude rural-urban continuum will undoubtedly continue to be of some utility in the study of communities in underdeveloped nations where the data for establishing more refined classifications are usually lacking. In these areas, too, we are more likely to encounter communities near one end or the other of the assumed continuum, so the ordering of them is less difficult. For purposes of research, though, one needs to develop more refined and useful concepts.

Presents an index of various literature on rural sociology.

The decade of the seventies thus far has witnessed a considerable amount of legislative attention directed at rural areas. Under the general heading or rural development no fewer than 48 bills were introduced in the first session of the 92nd Congress in the House of Representatives and 22 bills were introduced in the U.S. Senate. Few of these became law but the sheer numbers give some indication as to the political importance of the issues involved. The purpose of this paper is to focus on a portion of one of the most important pieces of rural development legislation, the Rural Development Act of 1972 (RDA-72). This article traces the legislative history and the philosophical assumptions of RDA-72 with particular regard to the provisions of rural industrialization in the U.S.

This paper seeks to improve the conceptualization and measure-merit of interorganizational fields and organization-environment relations. Cohesiveness of interorganizational fields and centrality of organizations vis-à-vis other units in their task environments are examined. Matrix algebra and sociograms are used to analyze data collected through interviews with the top administrator in 159 community development organizations. Cohesion of 16 interorganizational fields (counties) and centrality of 15 different types of organizations were determined using both high and low intensity of interaction measures. Three organizational coalitions were located and found to group around concerns about agriculture, social services, and natural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents minutes of the Council Meeting on August 26, 1973. Attendees; Speakers; Balance sheet for the 1973-1974 proposed budget.

There is widespread view that rural-to-urban migrants are saturating the ghetto areas of large cities and disproportionately contributing to poverty in urban areas. In this paper, data from the 1967 Survey of Economic Opportunity are analyzed to explore both dimensions of the presumed relationship of rural-urban migration and the plight of cities: the location of rural migrants in urban areas; and the extent of their contribution to urban poverty. The location and poverty of rural-urban migrants is compared with that of indigenous urbanities in nonmetropolitan and in ring and central city portions of metropolitan areas by size. White-black differences are emphasized and the relationship of poverty and previous or prolonged urban experience among migrants is also examined. The findings indicate that urban poverty and the plight of cities are the consequences of broader structural features of our society—the handicaps of age, of being a female head of household, or of the status ascribed to blacks—and not the product of rural-urban migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the participation of members in the affairs of the Rural Sociological Society. The data analyzed by the author was drawn from the membership records of the Society and questionnaires sent to individual members. The three classes of membership used in the analysis of this study are associates, students and professionals. In the measurement of the members' participation, the author arrived with a conclusion that participation in the annual meeting was the most frequent form of involvement and in here little regional variation occurred. It was also concluded that professional members with agriculture experiment station appointments had greater proportions active than those without such appointments and, despite the relatively small number of appointees, they were the major participants in the Society.

This paper focuses on one aspect of social change—changes in value orientations which reflect relationships between self and society. Two questions are examined: What differences in value orientations exist between younger and older generations of Negroes and whites in a rural area? What are the implications of the differences to social change in the United States? Data were collected in 1962 from younger and older generations of Negroes and of whites living in three rural counties in northern Florida. The younger generations included 411 Negro and white 12th graders and the older generations included their parents. Generational differences in value orientations—in achievement, in anomia, and in family identification—were more pronounced among Negroes than among whites. These generational differences among rural Negroes suggest an orientation to life for young Negroes which enables them to identify easily with movements for change in race relations in the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on the proposition that a lack of clear, conscious conceptualization has hindered the usefulness of past studies of the "occupational choices" of adolescents. Using a synthesis of past thought and empirical efforts, an attempt is made here to outline a conceptual scheme that incorporates certain minimal distinctions that seem necessary to research adequately the occupational aspirations of adolescents. Suggestions are thus offered to clarify existing semantic confusion, to aid in the development of more efficient empirical indicators, and to pinpoint potentially fruitful research problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the author's comments on the article "The Rural-Urban Variable: An Urbanite's Perspective," by Leo F. Schnore. Schnore asserts that the central thesis of this article is that rural-urban divergences in the U.S. are still substantial and worth studying. The author says that this proposition is not new. It is avowed openly by many rural sociologists and, at least tacitly, by most through the kinds of research they pursue and the action programs they often supplement. Schnore's thesis is somewhat unorthodox, for it is the author's impression that Richard Dewey's article "The Rural-Urban Continuum: Real But Relatively Unimportant," more nearly states the typical urbanite's evaluation. Although Schnore's claim may be more congenial to rural sociology as a profession. appraising its validity requires heavy lending of ideas from the position which underlies Dewey's evaluation. Without attempting to classify Schnore's indices in Dewey's schema, the author suspects that sociologists like Dewey might be willing to subsume all of them as only specific aspects of one or another of the five structural qualities Dewey is willing to admit as invariant concomitants of size and density.

Presents news notes and announcements involving the Rural Sociological Society. Professional opportunities abroad; Announcements of events; Career developments of sociology professionals; Theses and dissertations.

This paper makes a distinction between ‘opinion leadership’ and traditional leadership in the process of directed change in underdeveloped areas. Using the case study method, an attempt is made to demonstrate that each of the two types of leadership is suited to a specific situation. Using support from Max Weber's argument that the traditional leader is free to confer grace quite arbitrarily, the potentiality of this type of leadership as an instrument for social change is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents comments of the authors on the review of their article by Professor C. Horack Hamilton. The paper was based on the analysis of net migration rates in the U.S. in 1950-60 by using multiple regression model. Authors of the article suggest that the usage of terms "variables" and "covariable" to identify the independent variables are common and accepted. It is made clear that the mathematical model, employed in the paper, did not include an independent variable to reflect natural increase as it is suggested by Hamilton. And the two educational variables used in the analysis, median years of schooling by persons 25 years of age and over, the percentage of the population 25 years of age and over completing 4 or more years of high school, are closely related. The computation of the overlapping and net effects of each independent covariate helps in determining the highly correlated variables and eliminating those variables from the model, but the overlapping effects provide no information regarding the nature of interactions which may exist and don't show the response surface of interacting variables.

In this study an attempt is made to test empirically a body of theory related to linkage of social systems in explaining floricultural change. Data for the paper are based on a longitudinal study of an Extension educational program with a sample of part-time farm families in one North Carolina county, 1955- 1960. It appears evident that certain changes were more pronounced among those families (viewed as client systems) which developed a high degree of linkage with the change-agent system (the county Agricultural Extension organization) than occurred among families which developed either a medium or a low degree of linkage with the change-agent system. This difference was found especially on changes in participation in voluntary associations. Implications for further research include more attention to existing linkage between relevant social systems at a bench mark period, and further refinement in measuring points of linkage between client and change-agent systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information about several projects, programs, and personalities in the field of sociology. The "Community Mental Health Journal" has been founded to facilitate communication among professionals in the field. The first issue will be published early in 1965. It will contain articles on research and evaluation, program development, and theoretical issues. According to another information, the Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Illinois is holding a workshop-seminar in rural sociology from December 2-4, 1964. The theme of the seminar is "Rural Sociology: Its Development, Problems, Substantive Significance, and Contributions in University Programs." Major papers will be contributed by Paul A. Miller, president of West Virginia University; Olaf F. Larson, Cornell University; and George M. Beal, Iowa State University. The article also contains information about some personalities in the field of sociology. William B. Baker, director of Centre for Community Studies, University of Saskatchewan, was awarded an honorary doctorate in May by North Dakota State University.

A variety of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics is known to vary consistently along the rural-urban continuum in highly developed nations such as the United States. Relatively little is known, however, about such variations in underdeveloped countries. In an effort to throw further light on this subject, the present paper examines the relationship of selected socio-demographic variables defining "urbanism" to a rural-urban continuum constructed for Taiwan. The results of the analysis suggest (1) that the theoretical applicability of the continuum concept is just as valid for under-developed areas as it is for countries such as the United States, and (2) that from a methodological point of view, a more realistic approach to the construction of a rural-urban continuum is one that utilizes both population size and administrative type in the classification of communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the functions of education in rural social change and, more specifically, rural-urban sociocultural integration. Based on accumulated evidence and insight from researches in the eastern mountain region of Kentucky, the central thesis is that education functions as a major cultural entree by the Great Society into this relatively isolated, familistically-oriented subculture. Because of its structurally strategic position, the educational institution tends to have more direct integrative communication and linkage with the Great Society than the other basic institutions. This suggests a largely indirect influence of the Great Society on the non educational institutions. The school system brings about changes in general orientations which set the stage for changes in specific orientations both educational and noneducational. With time and under certain conditions these changes in orientation result in changes in the institutional structure of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Directed social and cultural change in which a systemic conceptual scheme is utilized in the analysis is the theme of this paper, which describes the first year's operation of a project in supervised agricultural credit in a Peruvian highland community and analyzes it in terms of the dynamic aspects of systemic elements such as goals, norms, sanctions, power, and so forth. The conclusion to the paper summarizes an explanation of the events occurring during the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines rural elementary education in Brazil in the light of historical phenomena and recent socioeconomic development. Contemporary rural society is described from the point of view of its social structure and the way in which rural educational problems emerge from this context. The paper concludes with a statement and evaluation of attempts on the part of the federal government to solve problems of elementary education in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tells the story of how and why five rural sociologists were invited to spend a year attached to an American embassy "to study the rural life" in five different Latin-American countries. This paper attempts to report what the sociologists planned to do, to what extent they were able to carry out their plans, and why they could not always do so. The value of such broad types of studies is appraised by the rural sociologists who participated in this enterprise, and their knowledge of the sociologically significant carryovers resulting from their work is reported. The author conferred or corresponded with all who participated in the studies and feels confident that he has faithfully reflected or reported all of the ideas which space has permitted him to present. For the appraisal of limitations of the methods used and the special emphasis given by the different analysts, he accepts sole responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]