Social capital includes access to resources based on social networks, similar to how economic capital is access to fiscal resources. We explore ethnic social capital as a variant of social capital that includes the social resources that are available to a person as a result of being a member of an ethnic and cultural network. This study identifies…

The author examines how the residents of two displaced rural Kansas towns, and their descendants, exhibit a sense of identity common to small farm communities throughout the Great Plains, and how tenacious these ties are even after the physical reminder of their communal bonds no longer exists. By examining the struggles to survive faced by these…

As part of the Community and Environment in Rural America (CERA) initiative, the Carsey Institute has been investigating broad trends between rural community types, including the education level of residents and their parents. Since 2007, Carsey researchers have conducted over 17,000 telephone surveys with randomly selected adult Americans from…

Anomalies found in the application of Warren's "great change" theory to Haskell County, Kansas, led to use of multiple approaches including the ecological, interactional, and critical theoretical frameworks. These techniques expanded the understanding of social relations and social change in rural communities. (SK)

Problem: Various demographic and familial risk factors have been linked to runaway behavior. To date, there has not been a systematic investigation of the impact of size of community on runaway behavior. This study will compare runaways from smaller cities and rural areas to their urban counterparts. Methods: A convenience sample of 602…

Small historic sites are endeavors by small communities to preserve elements of their past. The sites they choose reveal the cultural values they esteem today. The structures most frequently represented at seven museum-developed sites are schools and churches because they were agents of social order, centers of community life and ritual, and…

Community vitality is no longer tied to economic diversity. Community viability analysis provides a broader perspective by considering community self-image and social activities. Horizontal linkages, social solidarity, threshold values, and community catchment areas are explained and applied to an analysis that shows small towns such as Olsburg…

Dunlap, Kansas, identified as a stereotypical dying small town in a 1962 study, was restudied in 1974-75 in an effort to test the dying small town hypothesis (supported only by aggregate census data and casual observation rather than by specific studies). Researchers using unobtrusive observation of Dunlap and seven nearby unincorporated villages,…

Surveys importance of economic and environmental factors in motivation of metro- and nonmetro-origin migrants relocating in 13 Kansas nonmetropolitan nonamenity turnaround counties. Finds employment-related reasons predominate, with economic characteristics of counties a significant factor. Quality of life/environmental reasons were less…

A study of turnover among high school superintendents and principals in small Kansas school districts found differences in demographic and organizational characteristics, performance measures, and administrators' perceptions in districts with high and low turnover rates. Data obtained from 72 administrator interviews and educational directories…