Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:30:13.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Estimating the Relative Rurality of U.S. Counties*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2016

Blair J. Smith
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802
David W. Parvin Jr.
Affiliation:
Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS 39762

Extract

In context of the phrase “Rural Development”, so much a part of the current vocabulary of social scientists, the term ‘rural’ is often poorly defined and loosely used. Partly because of the great diversity in definitions of rural, both expressed and implied, a coherent and comprehensive rural development literature has not emerged. Obviously, rural development refers to the development of whatever is rural. The aim of this paper is to deal only with the question of what is rural, leaving the matter of what consitutes development to other writers.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Southern Agricultural Economics Association 1975

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Authorized for publication on April 18, 1975 as paper No. 4850 in the journal Beries of the Pennsylvania Agricultural Experiment Station.

References

[1] Bealer, R.C., Willits, F.K. and Kuvlesky, W..“The Meaning of 'Rurality' In American Society: Some Implications of Alternative Definitions,” Rural Sociology, 30:3:255266, September 1965.Google Scholar
[2] Berry, B. J. L.Strategies, Models and Economic Theories of Development in Rural Regions,” Agricultural Economics Report No. 127, U.S. Department of Agriculture, December 1967.Google Scholar
[3] Bluestone, H.Focus for Area Development Analysis: Urban Orientation of Counties,” Agricultural Economic Report No. 183, U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 1970.Google Scholar
[4] Coltrane, R.I., Leader, Regional Programs Group. “An Economics Analysis of the Iowa Rural Renewal Area,” Agricultural Economic Report No. 181, U.S. Department of Agriculture, June 1970.Google Scholar
[5] Cowhig, J.D.Farm Operator Level-of-Living Indexes for Counties of the United States, 1950 and 1959,” Statistical Bulletin 321, U.S. Department of Agriculture, September 1962.Google Scholar
[6] Dewey, R.The Rural-Urban Continuum:Real but Relatively Unimportant,” American Journal of Sociology, 66:6066, July 1960.Google Scholar
[7] Edwards, C. and Coltrane, R.. “Area Delineations for Rural Economic Development Research,” Agricultural Economics Research, 24:3:6776, July 1972.Google Scholar
[8] Edwards, C. and Coltrane, R.. “Economic and Social Indicators of Rural Development from an Economic Viewpoint,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, 4:1:229246, July 1972.Google Scholar
[9] Edwards, C., Coltrane, R.I. and Daberkow, S.. “Regional Variations in Economic Growth and Development with Emphasis on Rural Areas,” Agricultural Economics Report No. 205, U.S. Department of Agriculture, May 1971.Google Scholar
[10] Gist, N.P. and Fava, S.F.. Urban Society, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, Co., 1964.Google Scholar
[11] Hagood, M.J. and Price, D.O.. Statistics for Sociologists, New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1952.Google Scholar
[12] Harman, H.H. Modern Factor Analysis, University of Chicago Press, 1960.Google Scholar
[13] Kaufman, H.F. and Singh, A.. “The Rural-Urban Dialogue and Rural Sociology,” Rural Sociology, 34:4:546551, December 1969.Google Scholar
[14] Parvin, D.W. Jr. and Smith, B.J.. “Ranking Mississippi Counties Along a Rural-Urban Continuum,” Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, Aec M.R. No. 60, June 1974.Google Scholar
[15] Schnore, L.F.The Rural-Urban Variable:An Urbanite's Prospective,” Rural Sociology, 31:2:131143, June 1966.Google Scholar
[16] Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry.Characteristics of Rural Areas with Noncommuting Population,” Committee Print, June 30, 1972.Google Scholar
[17] Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. “Rural Development Act of 1972 - Analysis and Explanation - Public Law 92-419,” Committee Print, October 3, 1972.Google Scholar
[18] Sinclair, B. and Manderscheid, L.V.. “A Comparative Evaluation of Indexes of Rurality - Their Policy Implications and Distributional Aspects,” Michigan State University Center for Rural Manpower and Public Affairs, Special Paper No. 22, August 1974.Google Scholar
[19] Smith, B.J. and Parvin, D.W. Jr.Defining and Measuring Rurality,” Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, 5:1:109113, July 1973.Google Scholar
[20] Smith, B.J. and Parvin, D.W. Jr.Comparative Levels of Rurality Among Georgia Counties,” University of Georgia Division of Agricultural Economics Faculty Series, FS74-2, June 1974.Google Scholar
[21] Stewart, C.T.The Urban-Rural Dichotomy,” American Journal of Sociology, 64:5258, September 1958.Google Scholar
[22] Taylor, L. and Jones, A.R. Jr. Rural Life in an Urbanized Society, New York: Oxford University Press, 1964.Google Scholar
[23] Tintner, G. Econometrics, New York: Wiley and Sons, 1952.Google Scholar
[24] U.S. Bureau of the Census. “Number of Inhabitants and General Social and Economic Characteristics,” 1970.Google Scholar
[25] U.S. Bureau of the Census. “PICADAD - A Computer File for Assignment of Geographic Characteristics and Straight-Line Distance Computations,” Transportation Division, August 1972.Google Scholar
[26] U.S. Department of AgricultureRural Development: Fourth Annual Report of the President to the Congress on Government Services to Rural America,” Obtainable from the Rural Development Service, undated.Google Scholar
[27] Willits, F.K. and Bealer, R.C.. “An Evaluation of a Composite Definition of ‘Rurality’,” Rural Sociology,32:2:165177, June 1967.Google Scholar
[28] Wirth, L.Urbanism as a Way of Life,” American Journal of Sociology, 44, July 1938.Google Scholar
[29] Zimmer, J.M. and Manny, E.S.. “Farm Operator Level-of-Living Indexes for Counties of the United States,” 1950, 1959, and 1964, Statistical Bulletin No. 406, U.S. Department of Agriculture, June 1967.Google Scholar