Lists addresses, telephone numbers, and contact persons for each state data center plus those in the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Describes available rural data and services (mostly free): informational assistance, computer tapes and printouts, maps, assistance using data, and information on new products. (NEC)

Whether large-scale or small farms dominate, a county's farm structure is influenced not only by changes within farming but also by key factors such as nonfarm economic activity, geography, and population growth. Large-farm counties where agriculture dominates the economy are concentrated in the Plains, Midwest, and Mississippi Delta. Small-farm…

The causes of rural/urban educational inequalities are multiple and diverse, and their analysis requires multi-disciplinary, longitudinal research. In this Polish study, preliminary examination of macrostatistical data on rural/urban disparities revealed the limitations of dichotomous analysis. In a broad, in-depth approach designed to develop a…

Papers presented at a symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Department of Rural Sociology of the University of Wisconsin-Madison are collected in this volume. The first four papers--by Olaf Larson, Edward Moe, Daryl Hobbs, and Robert Gard--discuss the department's history, emphasizing the contributions of outstanding…

A large-scale pre-television benchmark survey was undertaken in five Indonesian provinces in 1976, prior to the launching of Indonesia's telecommunications satellite, to provide data for comparison with the results of a survey of the same villages to be carried out in 1982, 5 years after the introduction of television, to assess its long-term…

Survey information from 1,616 farm families in Wisconsin, Mississippi, and Tennessee was used to construct a viability ratio measuring a family's ability to meet its obligations from total income. Coupled with other farm characteristics, the ratio allows policymakers to see why some farms are viable and others are not. (JHZ)

An estimated 44,340 longer term resident households in rural Kentucky were studied to identify the variables that explained changes in household income status between 1974-79. In a nine-county area of south-central Kentucky, rapid employment growth between 1974 and 1979 created new job opportunities, but employment growth did not benefit all…

Findings from current literature form the basis for this examination of five critical elements of change and development within the local community setting which impact on agriculture: population, employment, land, water, and environment. Renewed rural population growth during the 1970's has reversed small farm trends but placed strains on local…

Questions one of the assumed benefits of rapid growth in rural areas--the retention of rural youths through finding employment in their home communities. Finds no relationship between migration intentions of 970 high school seniors in rural Utah counties and rapid growth in local energy-related extractive employment. (LFL)

Testimonies were heard in reference to the administration's annual rural development policy report and H.R. 5024, the Rural Development Reorganization Act of 1984. The bill provides that the Department of Agriculture shall be known as the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, transfers the administration of certain conservation programs…

A study of the process of a 1977-1983 oil and gas boom in Caldwell, Texas, disproved the assumption that local social effects of rapid energy development are severe and negative. Using interviews, surveys, observation, local newspapers, and other writings as data sources, researchers determined that during the boom, Caldwell's population grew…

Effective rural development planning depends on facts and analysis based, not on rural averages, but on the diverse social and economic structure of rural America. Programs tailored to particular types of rural economies may be more effective than generalized programs. Because of their unique characteristics, government policies and economic…

The diminishing role of the federal government in rural development has created an opportunity for new initiatives in this area. One potentially useful response is the creation of a state-rural policy center. Such centers can combine the efforts of land grant institutions, extension services, and state universities in the development and…

Analysis of census data indicates major population, industrial, and occupational changes occurred in many of Texas' 254 counties from 1960 to 1980. While 103 counties experienced rapid population growth by both natural and migration, patterns of change were dissimilar. Population grew steadily in metropolitan counties over the two decades.…

Whatever migration patterns evolve, changes in the age structure mean that rural communities in general can expect fairly stable elementary school population, reduced high school population, slower growth in new business and employment, and continued increase in the elderly population. (JHZ)