Community Action and the National Rural Development Agenda

As a result of concern over three related issues—a renewed interest in self-help mechanisms, the farm crisis of the 1980s, and the renewed recognition of rural poverty—an agenda which focuses on rural development has emerged. Central to the formation of rural development strategies is the role of community action. This paper reviews some of the searching questions about the whats and whys of community action, about the distinctive problems and potentials of community action, and about how rural community action can be promoted

Pennsylvanians\u27 Knowledge of Agriculture

In 2005, researchers at Pennsylvania State University surveyed 1,521 Pennsylvanians in 65 counties to determine their knowledge of and perceptions about agriculture in the state. The study looked to: assess the level of agricultural knowledge of Pennsylvanians; ascertain how personal characteristics and frequency of rural visitation related to agricultural knowledge and to the perceptions of citizens about various agricultural issues; explore the relationship of agricultural knowledge to public perceptions of selected agricultural issues; and suggest how information on Pennsylvanians’ knowledge, experiences, and perceptions of agriculture are relevant to policy makers. The study results showed that, overall, most participants believed they knew very little about the impacts of agriculture on the state, farming production practices, or agriculture and the environment. Their self-rating on matters related to food and nutrition was somewhat higher, but even here a substantial majority believed they were not well-informed. When asked to respond to factual questions dealing with the different knowledge areas, many participants failed to answer correctly, and even those who did select the right answer were seldom certain of their responses. For some questions, respondents who thought their answers were correct often provided the wrong answers. Many of the answers reflected misperceptions about agriculture and its impact on the state. The survey analysis showed that direct personal contact with farming and visiting rural areas were clearly the most important experiences associated with higher levels of agricultural knowledge. The findings also showed that people who have greater agricultural knowledge differ in their views and actions from those with less understanding of agriculture, and this, coupled with the low levels of knowledge found in the population studied, suggests that it is important that efforts be made to educate the public about the nature and impacts of agriculture. To educate the public, the researchers recommended maintaining, and possibly expanding, Agriculture in the Classroom programs that provide agricultural education to school children; developing and expanding programs that allow people to visit working farms in the state; intensifying programs to enhance agricultural tourism and rural visitation; and developing a periodical directed to the general population, which features articles on Pennsylvania farming, agritourism, farm facts and historical notes, and agricultural research findings

Another Look at Likert Scales

Perhaps the most widely used means for assessing survey respondents’ personal attitudes consists of a series of stem-statements followed by an odd or even number of ordered, bipolar-named categories. Such statements, known as Likert items, are named for Rensis Likert whose classic studies of attitude measurement were first published in 1932. Almost from the beginning, methodologists and psychometric scholars have raised questions concerning the number of items deemed necessary to form an attitude scale, the number and meaning of various answer categories, and the appropriate statistical methods to use in analyzing the resulting data. These deliberations are summarized. We conclude that, while continuing research on the meaning and uses of Likert scales is needed, many criticisms directed against their usage are unwarranted. Both Likert items and multi-item scales represent useful means for researchers seeking information on subjects’ attitudes

Changes in Residents’ Views of Natural Gas Drilling in the Pennsylvania Marcellus Shale, 2009-2012

Data from comparable surveys of residents in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania conducted in 2009 and 2012 are analyzed to ascertain changes in public views over time. The proportions of residents indicating they knew very little or nothing about the economic, social, and environmental impacts of gas drilling declined sharply. Further, residents increasingly formed opinions about the possible costs and benefits of developing the industry and whether they opposed or supported developing the gas industry. The proportions of respondents expressing various concerns about possible negative environmental impacts of drilling increased. However, most residents supported developing the industry and there was little change in that support over the survey period

Self-Reported Familiarity of Hydraulic Fracturing and Support for Natural Gas Drilling: Substantive and Methodological Considerations

The widespread use of hydraulic fracturing in the natural gas industry in the United States has led to criticism by environmentalists and the public who see the process as threatening both the quality and quantity of local water supplies. However, there has been little research directed to assessing the extent to which citizens believe they are familiar with the process of hydraulic fracturing and little analysis dealing with the correlates of subjects’ sociodemographic characteristics with such familiarity or its effects on individual’s support or opposition to natural gas drilling. The current note examines these issues using data from a 2012 study of 800 residents in the core area of the Marcellus natural gas region in Pennsylvania. Substantive and methodological implications of the findings are discussed, as are suggestions for future research

Migration and Its Impacts on the Northeast, Station Bulletin, no.511

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Definitions of community: an illustration of aggregation bias, Station Bulletin, no.516

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

A methodological appraisal of the follow up instruments used in evaluating Hillsborough County\u27s CETA Programs, Station Bulletin, no.521

The Bulletin is a publication of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire

Rural-to-Urban Labor Migration, Household Livelihoods, and the Rural Environment in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China

Rural migration and its relationship to the rural environment have attracted increasing research interest in recent decades. Rural migration constitutes a key component of human population movement, while rural areas contain most of the world’s natural resources such as land and forests. This study empirically evaluates a conceptual framework incorporating rural household livelihoods as an integrative mediating factor between rural migration and the rural environment in the context of rural-to-urban labor migration in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China. The analysis draws on data collected through household surveys and key informant interviews from four villages. Results confirm the hypothesis that labor-migrant and non-labor-migrant households differ significantly in livelihood activities including agricultural production, agricultural technology use, income and consumption, and resource use and management. Implications for the subsequent environmental outcomes of rural labor out-migration and corresponding natural resource management and policy in rural origin areas are discussed