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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 paper explores some aspects of the editorial decision process and its outcomes as they are involved in the production of scientific knowledge. Based on 337 manuscripts reviewed for Rural Sociology from the Spring of 1978 to the Spring of 1981, ten characteristics associated with successful and unsuccessful manuscripts were examined. Five of these constituted a discriminant function model: number of rounds of review, author membership in the Rural Sociological Society, referee agreement regarding recommendations to the editor, referees who are authors, and difference in referee degree dates. The other five variables did not contribute significantly to the model: referee membership in the RSS, gender of the authors, number of authors, referee agreement regarding the contribution of the manuscript, and referee agreement regarding the presentation of the manuscript. The model achieved 85 percent accuracy in classifying the total set of manuscripts, but it was much more successful in classifying the rejected papers (95 percent) than the published papers (63 percent). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 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.

Local social systems are connected to larger systems, including the world-system, in a variety of complex ways: thus it is often difficult to identify the local stratification system or community of reference. Yet, system specification is crucial in stratification studies, because the phenomena studied are often best understood in terms of relative position within the local system. To support this emphasis on local community of reference this paper reviews Cancian's upper middle rank conservatism thesis and Frey et al.'s (1979) finding of lower middle rank conservatism in adoption or agricultural innovations in Pakistan, and presents a reanalysis of the Frey et al. data. The reanalysis shows that the finding changes when specification of the local system changes. Thus, the system specification problem faced by empirical researchers concerned with rural stratification systems is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents an index of various literature on rural sociology.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The image of farming in the United States is an individualistic one. The existence of kinship arrangements and their significance in the intergenerational transfer of farms and on farm decisions have received little attention. This paper looks at the characteristics of kinship arrangements in the Palouse area of eastern Washington and northern Idaho and whether relatives who farm together differ in innovativeness from those who do not farm with relatives. Two models are presented, which suggest that kinship arrangements might have either a positive or negative effect on adoption of erosion control practices. We present data to test these two models and discuss the implications of our findings for farmer innovativeness and intergenerational transfer of farms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presidential addresses to the Rural Sociological Society fall into two basic types. Some persons have chosen to deliver a paper which continues the kind of substantive interests at the core of their particular careers. In this way the article is not too different than any other of the person's efforts. Perhaps the more characteristic mode is to step outside "the usual" and appraise where new challenges may be arising for rural sociology, where old problems remain and, in general, to focus on issues pertinent largely to the profession as such. This is so for the simple reason that the central concern of the author long has been with metatheory or metasociology. The nature of the beast, brings "professional" matters under scrutiny. Through the rubric of metatheory his goal is to examine and hopefully clarify some of the assumptions which underlines substantive propositions. The assumptions that are perhaps most inviting for inquiry are those involving methodology. This is because of rural sociology in the United States has a methodological centrality.

A substantial body of research has investigated the influx of people and industry into rural and nonmetropolitan areas of America. Unfortunately, there has been a conspicuous absence in much of that research of theory pertaining to structural linkages impinging upon non-metropolitan social and economic change. In order to integrate present empirical knowledge as well as to provide a general framework for future investigation, some theoretical perspective is necessary. This paper examines several perspectives that view the transformation of rural society and the rural-urban interface in terms of power relations and dominance. While the evidence for a conclusive test of the evidence for a conclusive test of the perspectives is unavailable, a framework for investigating the interface is suggested, especially in terms of rural development projects. This framework incorporates the concept of spin-offs and especially encourages examining the ability of the rural area to convert and to utilize the spin-offs of industrial development. Preliminary empirical and expository evidence suggests that a dependency perspective may provide a more adequate and integrated understanding of the industrial "invasion" of the nonmetropolitan sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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]

Data on educational participation and attitudes toward the educational process and institutions are drawn from a comprehensive cross-sectional socioeconomic survey conducted in rural interior Lebanon. The conclusions suggest a considerably higher level of participation, concern, and affluence with regard to the place of formal education in the lives of the Arab peasants who make up the bulk of the sample than is sometimes anticipated. In the course of a random sample socioeconomic survey conducted in the interior of southern Lebanon in 1954 data were collected on educational participation and attitudes. The participation material has been published elsewhere and will be referred to here only where relevant to the present discussion. The specific concern of this paper is a description of the quality and direction of educational orientation as reflected in opinion and attitude statements of a cross section of household heads in one of the larger villages in the original study. Many of the findings in the school participation phase of this research are clearly related to the attitudinal responses which are to be reported in the present paper.

The purpose of the article is to afford an additional medium of expression for scholars in the field of Rural Sociology. Rural Sociology has always been the joint responsibility of the professional organization of rural sociologists and a sponsoring university. Its history is intimately intertwined with the history of the Rural Sociological Society and its predecessor, the Rural Sociology Section of the American Sociological Society. The history of the journal may be summarized in four periods: (1) the prepublication period when decisions and plans were made; (2) the first five years (1936-40), at Louisiana State University; (3) the next eleven years (1941-51), under the sponsorship of North Carolina State College; and (4) the years at the University of Kentucky (1952-57), four of which fall in the 20-year period covered by this index. Moreover, it will be the policy to solicit manuscripts from workers in foreign countries, although it is intended that all such papers shall deal with some phase of rural social life.

This paper examines and describes patterns of migration, changes in birth rates, and the relationship of these two factors for the rural and urban population in state economic areas of 13 North Central States, 1940–1950. Analysis of the data clearly shows the concentration of population through net in-migration in the rural parts of metropolitan areas, and especially in the older and larger metropolitan areas. The 64 state economic areas of net in-migration had gains of 19, 36, and 14 per cent in total, rural, and urban population, respectively. The 109 areas of net out-migration maintained a stationary total population, lost 5 per cent in rural population, and gained 10 per cent in urban population. Areas of net in-migration showed a numerical increase of 7.2 births per 1,000 population, 1940–1950, and those of net out-migration an increase of only 4.6. Areas showing the rural-in, urban-out migration pattern had the largest increase, 7.5, while the rural-out, urban-out areas had the least increase, 3.8. The data point up the need for expanded study of the various demographic, social, and economic factors affecting migration and fertility and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to what might be regarded as a basic postulate in sociology, when a number of persons are in interaction over a period of time, mutual expectations and norms develop concerning the behavior of the persons involved, and the individual's actions are not independent of these norms and expectations. the postulate is the basis of the hypothesis that relationships among neighbors affect many of the individual operator's decisions concerning the farm business. The author of this paper seeks to test the hypothesis that the extent to which farm operators adopt recommended farm practices is, in part, a function of the operator's neighborhood of residence.

This paper outlines the emergence of rural sociology as a science, sketching briefly its backgrounds and pointing out some of the obstacles which confronted it along with other sciences. The discussion relates rural sociology to the early developments in the philosophies and methodological conceptions of science. From this point, the account turns to the work of Charles Josiah Galpin at the University of Wisconsin. The narrative includes a sketch of the development of three major schools of rural sociology -the "Wisconsin School," "the Cornell School," and the "Minnesota- Harvard School." Then there is a discussion of some of the problems of modern rural sociological research, emphasizing areas of neglected and new subject matter for future study. The paper closes with a renewed appeal for objectivity to the end of achieving a more rationalistic logico-experimental science for the future than has existed in the past, while maintaining objectivity as the servant of human understanding rather than allowing it to become the master of human reason. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the findings of a critical appraisal of twenty-six research studies in rural sociology published in 1950. Special emphasis is given to methodology and adequacy of reporting. The major deficiencies noted were in lack of theoretical orientation, lack of concern for adequacy in sampling, shortcomings in the utilization of measurement instruments, and lack of concern for control of other possibly explanatory variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A process important in understanding community action is that of decision-making. This paper presents certain theoretical considerations relevant to research in community organization and action. A study of community efforts in the promotion of 218 small hospital projects and case studies of a representative community hospital project in the Southeast and one in the Northeast reveal differences in decision-making processes. The Southeast projects developed more amidst arrangements made through constituted authority; while in the Northeast, community organizational arrangements seemed related to the social psychological components of influence. For the comparisons, use is made of the occupational positions of decision-makers in the projects, the types of sponsoring groups and practices, and the internal structure of the decision-making system of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an analysis of one hundred and one rural locality groups delineated for Wake County, North Carolina, during the summer of 1948. There is a high correlation between the quantitative indexes of four aspects of group life. There is a low correlation between the quantitative indexes and group identification as measured in this study. All four of the indexes have low predictive value of the strength of group identification. However, the index of the number of kinds of institutions and organizations appears to be more highly associated with group identification than the other indexes used in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the nature of the health research in progress at Ohio State University. The concern of the paper is with mental health. It discusses the reasons for undertaking health research, the objectives of such research, and the methods used. Studies completed and in process are likewise reported.

This paper reports on the nature of the health research in progress at the University of Missouri. The concern of the paper is with physical health. It discusses the reasons for undertaking health research, the objectives of such research, and the methods used. Studies completed and in process are likewise reported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the nature of the health research in progress at Michigan State University. The concern of the paper is with physical health. It discusses the reasons for undertaking health research, the objectives of such research, and the methods used. Studies completed and in process are likewise reported.

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Rural Sociology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents a list of books received in the June 1936 issue of the journal "Rural Sociology." Some of the books included are: "County Finances in the State of Washington," by Joseph P. Harris; "A Program for Land Use in Northern Minnesota," by Oscar B. Jesness and Reynold I. Nowell; "County Library Service in the South," by Louis R. Wilson and Edward A. Wight; "Rural Sociology," by John Morris Gillette; "Libraries of the South," by Tommie Dora Barker; "The Movable School Goes to the Negro Farmer," by Thomas Monroe Campbell; "Population Problems," by Warren S. Thompson; "Chile: Land and Society," by George McCutchen McBride; "A Plan for Regional Administrative Districts in the State of Washington," by Selden Cowles Menfee; "Economics of the Farm Business," by Theodor Brinkmann; "Southern Regions of the United States," by Howard W. Odum; "The Dairy Industry and the A.A.A.," by John D. Black; "Social Reform in Norway," by John Eric Nordskog; "Elements of Rural Sociology," by Newell L. Sims.

The purpose of this paper is to call attention to the importance of class divisions within agrarian populations for understanding agrarian collective action. To illustrate, the author describes agrarian class structure and collective action in Ireland during the nineteenth century. In the early part of the century, there was a social cleavage between occupying tenants and landowners, but there was also a cleavage among occupying tenants themselves. Both types of cleavage had a noticeable effect on the character of collective action. Subsequently, a major transformation in the class structure reduced the intensity of the social cleavage between large and small tenant farmers, and at the same time tenant farmers became numerically the largest social group in the rural society, thus laying the social basis for collective action by this social group. There are two principal arguments made in this paper: first, that agrarian populations are often split into distinguishable social classes, which do not all share the same basis for opposing non-agrarian elites and may even come into conflict with one another; and second, that different agrarian class structures give rise to different kinds of collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influence of social and economic change on family structure and relationships: How do such economic and social transformations as industrialization, urbanization, demographic change, the expansion of education, and the long-term growth of income influence the family? We take a comparative and historical approach, reviewing the experiences of three major sociocultural regions: the West, China, and South Asia. Many of the changes that have occurred in family life have been remarkably similar in the three settings-the separation of the workplace from the home, increased training of children in nonfamilial institutions, the development of living arrangements outside the family house-hold, increased access of children to financial and other productive resources, and increased participation by children in the selection of a mate. While the similarities of family change in diverse cultural settings are striking, specific aspects of change have varied across settings because of significant pre-existing differences in family structure, residential patterns of marriage, autonomy of children, and the role of marriage within kinship systems? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social risk deliberation began in the 1930s with the development of the atomic bomb. The social values underlying science and the consequences of technological innovation continue to stimulate needed critical debate on issues such as education, income, infrastructure in rural America, environmental contamination, and biotechnological and genetic research. This paper discusses the concept of social risk, its emphasis on prevention, the distribution and acceptance of risk in society, social values underlying normative aspects of policy decisions concerning social risk, procedures for estimating social risk, and how utilization of the concept seems a logical extension of the intellectual heritage of the rural sociological enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community sociology is in an awkward position between (1) the desirability and practicality of studying communities of geographic place and (2) a tendency for community relations to depart geographic places and span wide areas that effectively have no geographic boundaries. A rereading of Durkheim's theory of social solidarity offers an escape from this difficulty. This paper argues that the division of labor and social solidarity participate in a suppressing system: directly, the division of labor reduces solidarity, but indirectly, it increases solidarity through secondary groups, the state, and the cult of individuality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent changes in legislation, policy, and appropriations call explicitly for program evaluation to be undertaken in extension as well as other federally funded programs to help document program results and consequences and to provide input into policy and program decisions. Consistent with this charge, the present paper develops a conceptual and analytic framework that recognizes the dynamic, nonrecursive nature of the program and policy evaluation process. The flexibility of the frame- work allows policy or program evaluation to be addressed from three interrelated perspectives: (1) structural analysis, (2) control programming, and (3) simulation. The approaches have different foci and provide different kinds of information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One purpose of this study is to determine whether the Index of General Well-being is applicable to migrant farm workers, whose values, life-styles, and health may differ from those of the general population. A second purpose of this research is to compare the level of migrant farm workers' mental health with that of the general population and to assess the variation in subjective well-being among migrant farm workers them- selves. A third purpose is to use a multiple regression model on the mental health status of migrant farm workers to identify factors that explain variation in subjective well-being among them. The results indicate that variation in subjective well-being among this group is a function of life- style, social support, housing conditions, and three background variables (age, sex, and education). Policy implications derived from these results are discussed in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]