Rural Social Research Research Articles

The impact of social media on rural area: A bibliometric analysis

The number of general retail visits has decreased worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Individuals who previously used social media for commercial transactions now choose e-commerce. Social media allows clients to voice their opinions during crises, boosting product visibility. This study investigates the use of bibliometric analysis to shape social media use in "rural areas" to better understand "social media" in these places. Scholarly articles on rural social media share these findings. Scopus was used to collect "social media" and "rural areas" data. Social media use in rural regions was examined in 119 publications. These articles were used to identify patterns and predict the future. Multiple social media and rural area articles were used to classify and examine distribution states to find key research advancements and divisions. This study explored rural social media use and related research gaps. Synthesizing the findings provides a solid framework for future research. This study examines marketing research, focusing on social media and rural locations. It also discusses the value of social media journals for businesses, developing research trends and future opportunities in rural social media organization, and identifying critical business performance indicators. Rural social media's purpose. The capability framework can help find new marketing research avenues.

Responsible digital agri‐food innovation in Australian and New Zealand public research organisations

AbstractThis article analyses digital agricultural technologies (agtech) innovation in two public research organisations in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand through the lens of responsible innovation (RI), and how corresponding activities were realised in practice. Four virtual workshops explored the operationalisation of RI and its efficacy in digital agtech development. Thematic analysis of workshop materials provided scope to assess the recognised and realised value of RI in both digital agtech programmes, which we found lagging behind RI's full, perhaps idealised, potential. The value proposition of RI can, therefore, not be taken for granted without support for its operationalisation and institutionalisation. Given growing demands on public research organisations to responsibly develop transformational research and innovation, the article outlines recommendations for turning RI aspirations into situated research practices. We conclude that the next phase of agtech innovation should align with the co‐evolution of rural social research and its contribution to more responsible digital agtech innovation.

Finding ‘Hobby’ Farmers: A ‘Parish Study’ Methodology for Qualitative Research

AbstractThis paper presents a methodology for undertaking research with a ‘difficult to reach population’ – hobby farmers. In an investigation designed to assess agrarian transition processes in a peri‐urban locale, data was sought on every agricultural holding in a Scottish parish (municipality). This ‘parish study’ methodology combined participant mapping and qualitative interviewing with photo elicitation. Participant mapping was found to be useful for identifying farmers who are not normally included in rural social research, leading to a high response rate and a respondent pool for photo elicitation. The method also enabled the analysis of agrarian identity and land use. However, the parish study method is not suited to studies of dispersed groups and is more resource intensive than standard qualitative interview‐based studies. A number of ethical and EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) issues also arise around identifying participants, mapping, photos and incentivising participation in the research. The utility of the parish study method is demonstrated through two key findings of the research: the problematic definition of ‘hobby farmers’ in the study site and the trajectories towards de facto land abandonment in a peri‐urban locale.

Language struggles: Representations of the countryside and the city in an era of mobilities

This paper stresses the role of language in rural studies research. It does so by exploring conceptualisations of the city and the countryside in a period of mobility transformations and economic crisis in Greece. We use survey data from open-ended questions asking respondents to provide words they associate with the ‘village’, the ‘city’ and the ‘eparchy’, a term for non-metropolitan spaces of regional scale used in the Greek language. The survey was implemented to a sample of 300 residents in the city of Athens, and 300 residents in two regional towns in Greece. Our results demonstrate negative associations with the city and generally positive images attached to non-metropolitan settings, a finding that is important in contexts similar to Greece, where the ‘rural idyll’ has been far from a hegemonic discourse. Furthermore, we advocate the use of indigenous and informal narratives of rurality, such as the ‘eparchy’, for contextualising rural spatialities and development narratives, in the context of rural mobility, and wider, rural social research. Such terms are particularly powerful because their use in international platforms unequivocally challenges, and resists, the dominance of Anglophone research.

A review of Chinese rural social research in the past three decades

Rural social research in China has been a focus of attention among scholars since the reestablishment of sociology in mainland China in 1979. In order to document developments in and the contributions of research on rural society in China during the past three decades, this paper analyzes 305 articles that were published from 1986 to 2015 in Sociological Studies. Results of this content analysis are reported in terms of topics covered in research, keywords applied to published research, the scholarly or disciplinary orientation of the research, the professional affiliations of authors, the mode and methodology of the studies, and their geographical scope.

Information Needs of Indigenous Chicken Farmers in Enugu State: Implications for Agricultural Extension Service

Aims: The study ascertained the information needs of indigenous chicken (Gallus domesticus) farmers. Study Design: Multistage sampling technique was utilized in selecting respondents. Place and Duration: Nsukka and Enugu-Ezike agricultural zones of Enugu State, Nigeria between November 2012 to May 2013. Methodology: Simple random sampling technique was used to select four blocks from each of the two agricultural zones and five cells from each of the selected blocks. This gave a total of twenty cells. One hundred indigenous farmers were then selected across the twenty cells. Interview schedule was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, frequency counts and mean scores were used in presenting data. The statistical package used for data analysis was SPSS. Results: Majority (93.0%) of the respondents were females, married (67.0%). About 42.0% had no formal education while up to 95% had no extension contact for the past one year. Sixty one percent of the respondents had no access to credit and majority (89.0%) participated in rural social Original Research Article Chah et al.; BJAST, 7(4): 404-411, 2015; Article no.BJAST.2015.158 405 organizations. The respondents indicated that they needed information on the specification of drugs, availability of day old chicks, pests and disease control and methods of vaccination, among others Also, respondents carried out management practices such as provision of supplementary feeding, drinking water, use of various disease control measures and reared their chicken using the extensive system of production. Seventy percent of the respondents sourced information on indigenous chicken management practices. Out of the 70%, 58% and 10% sourced such information from family/friends and other farmers, respectively. Adequate information on poultry production practices should be disseminated by extension agents so as to improve indigenous chicken production.

Collecting and Using Autobiographical Memories in Rural Social Research: A Step-by-Step Guide

Human autobiographical memory, containing information on the self and its sociocultural surroundings, is a unique reservoir of knowledge, valuable in rural social research as well as in several other fields of study. However, the use of autobiographical memories as a source of retrospective information in (rural) social research remains largely underappreciated. This article introduces a five-step guide for designing and implementing research based on individuals’ cued autobiographical memories. The article also briefly outlines some major phenomena associated with human autobiographical memory (reminiscence bump, mood-incongruency, overgeneral memory, telescoping effect) and explains how they can affect a study based on participants’ autobiographical memories.

The Role and Functioning of Cultural Scripts in Farming and Agriculture

AbstractWe advocate an increased utilisation of script theory in rural social research and suggest this will enhance understandings of the social life of farmers and other rural residents. We define a script as a culturally shared expression, story or common line of argument, or an expected unfolding of events, that is deemed to be appropriate or expected in a particular socially defined context, and that provides a rationale or justification for a particular issue or course of action. We suggest there are four types of script: (1) a socially perceived routine or expected sequence of events; (2) a catch‐phrase, metaphor or allegory that is frequently recited in response to a particular issue or situation; (3) a mini‐story, narrative or parable; and (4) a commonly used line of argument that is widely invoked in response to a particular issue or situation. Using examples from our work with farmers in the UK and Australia relating to animal health and biosecurity, and specifically bovine tuberculosis, we demonstrate how scripts affect the perceived management options of farmers in particular circumstances. We suggest that scripts have implications for policymakers and those seeking to promote practice change such as agricultural extension staff and agricultural veterinarians.

The Contribution of Qualitative Methodologies to Rural Health Research: An Analysis of the Development of a Study of the Health and Well-Being of Women in Remote Areas

Understanding the influence of rural social determinants on health can contribute to alleviating disparities between the health of urban and rural populations. Qualitative methodologies have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of rural health issues. However, there are few published case studies of the process of designing qualitative studies which can contribute to a better understanding of how to conduct and evaluate qualitative research. This paper adds to the methodological literature by describing the process of developing a methodology for a study of how women in remote areas achieve health and well-being. In the paper the author documents the process and illustrates an individual's search for a method that would suit her research problem and her personal and professional ideology. Metaethnography, constructivist grounded theory, and dialogic/performance narrative methods are identified as a qualitative methods particularly suited to health and other areas of rural social research.

The Future For Rural Social Work In China

Rural social work practice and research is receiving great importance in China because of the need for intervention in rural communities due to the huge social changes taking place in rural China. The three key aspects discussed are the possible paths for rural social work intervention, practice and research of rural social work, and education in rural social work.

Q Methodology and Rural Research

AbstractTraditionally, rural scholarship has been limited in its methodological approach. This has begun to change in recent years as rural researchers have embraced a range of different methodological tools. The aim of this article is to contribute to greater methodological pluralism in rural sociology by introducing readers to a method of research that is rarely engaged in the field, that is, Q methodology. The article describes the defining features of the approach as well as providing examples of its application to argue that it is a method that offers particular opportunities and synergies for rural social science research.

On being a nice country girl and an academic feminist: using reflexivity in rural social research

This paper uses a study of women's participation in the Australian sugar industry to illustrate and critique the process and usefulness of reflexivity in rural research. I begin by situating the use of reflexivity within the feminist literature. Following this, I describe the way in which I used reflexivity to examine different identities I inhabited throughout the study. These identities were: ‘farmers’, daughter’, ‘Italian-Australian’, ‘nice country girl’ and ‘woman’. The paper concludes with a brief reflexive examination of some of the challenges I face in taking up a new identity—that of ‘academic feminist’ in rural sociology.

Educational Access for Australia's Rural Young People: A Case of Social Exclusion

The social and economic effects of globalisation in rural communities is well documented. Ageing populations, loss of services and employment opportunities are typical of rural areas in many western industrialised countries. Focusing on declining access to tertiary education, this paper argues that a lack of adequate policy is creating socially excluded young people in country towns. In particular, drawing on research conducted in the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University, it argues that the financial cost of education is creating a huge barrier for many rural families. If rural areas are to benefit from globalisation, a skilled workforce is critical. Declining rural access to tertiary education exacerbates power differentials resulting from globalisation and therefore restrains access to the opportunities of globalisation and hinders rural revitalisation.

From local to global: Making social policy more effective for rural community capacity building

In the context of a discussion of globalisation this paper examines developments in social policy aimed at building civil society and enhancing social capital. It notes that policy driven by a desire for minimal government intervention and market dominance has resulted in a clear disadvantage in rural Australia and growing inequities between urban and rural communities. Clearly poverty has a postcode and overwhelmingly the postcodes are rural. At the same time the demography of ‘rural’ Australia is changing as the inland empties and the coastal regions experience population overload with its accompanying environmental problems. This paper discusses the need for more effective targeted involvement of the state in rural policy development if we are to preserve quality of life, address inequities and overcome the divide between city and country. There is a strong role for social work in forging rural community development. However, the profession has to be much more politically astute in its dealings with governments and community groups if it is to carve out a central role. Strategies are discussed to develop such a role. Margaret Alston is an Associate Professor in social work and is Director of the Centre for Rural Social Research at Charles Sturt University, New South Wales. She is a Director for the Foundation for Australian Agricultural Women, a member of the Advisory Board for the Social Sciences Unit, Bureau of Rural Sciences, a member of the Board of General Practice Education Australia and on the Editorial Committee for Australian Social Work

Focus groups, feminist research and farm women: opportunities for empowerment in rural social research

This paper uses data from a doctoral study examining women's involvement in the Australian sugar industry to argue that focus groups are a valuable method for feminist rural social research. Sixteen initial and follow up focus groups conducted with 80 women were not just valuable for the production of raw data, they were also valuable in addressing feminist research goals. Using extracts from the focus groups, four examples of their effectiveness as a feminist research method are examined. That is, focus group participation made what is invisible to many women visible; it enabled connections to be made between individual and collective experiences; it facilitated challenges to dominant beliefs; and it provided space for discussion and reflexivity about gender issues. The paper concludes by arguing that the potential of focus groups as an empowering strategy for participants is not just of importance to feminist scholars, but to all rural social researchers who are interested in engaging less hierarchical research relationships, in producing knowledge which is contextualised, and in contributing to political and social change.

Book reviews

Building community: a history of the Port Adelaide Central Mission Brian Dickey and Elaine Martin (1999), Port Adelaide Central Mission Inc: Adelaide Dogs, kids & homeswest: The story of Tkalka Boorda Aboriginal community John Scougall and Ricky Osborne (1998), Curtin Centre for Aboriginal Studies, Perth Social work as community development: A management model for social change (2nd edition) Stephen Clarke (2000), Ashgate Publishing, ISBN 0 7546 1111 60 Multicultural queer: Australian narrativesPeter A. Jackson and Gerard Sullivan (eds) (1999), Haworth Press, New York 233 pp. Towards poverty alleviation in Australia: A first step Manohar Pawar and John McClinton (2000), Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 70pp. $22.00 (paperback) Working with involuntary clients: A guide to practice C. Trotter (1999), Allen & Unwin, Sydney ISBN 1 86448 498 5 162 pp. $29.95 (paperback) Learning to Love Lorraine Rose (2000), Acer Press, Victoria, $24.95 (paperback) The task planner: An intervention resource for human service professionals William J. Reid (2000), Columbia University Press, New York ISBN 0 231 10647 5 $22.50 (paperback) Deeper dimensions: culture, youth and mental health Marie Bashir and David Bennett (eds) (2000), Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Parramatta 181pp. $20.00 (paperback) The many-sided triangle: Adoption in Australia Audrey Marshall and Margaret McDonald (2001), Melbourne University Press ISBN 0 522 84943 1 300pp. $32.95 (paperback) Working with men in the human services Bob Pearse and Peter Camilleri (eds), Allen & Unwin, Sydney ISBN 1 86508 480 8 248 pp. $29.95 (paperback) Professional expertise: Practice theory and education for working in uncertainty Jan Fook, Martin Ryan and Linette Hawkins (2000), Whiting and Brich, London ISBN 1 86177 029 4 £35.00 (hardback) Social policy in the post-welfare state: Australians on the threshold of the 21st century Adam Jamrozik (2001), Psarson Education, Sydney ISBN 0 7339 9905 0 $44.95 (paperback) Promoting Resilience… A resource guide on working with children in the care system Robbie Gilligan (2001), British Agencies for Adoption & Fostering, London ISBN 1 873868 92 8 69pp. (paperback)

Book reviews : CRITICAL LANDCARE Stewart Lockie and Frank Vanclay (eds) Wagga Wagga, Centre for Rural Social Research, Charles Sturt University, 1997, x, 239 pp., $25.00 (paperback)

The Landcare program was established in 1989, in part as a response to a joint submission for a National Land Management Program put to the government by the National Farmers’ Federation and the Australian Conservation Council. This apparently incongruous alliance seemed to represent a new era of co-operation in environmental management, based on Federal funding for community-based, participatory programs which would be able to utilise local knowledge and resources to tackle local problems. The 1990s were established as the ’Decade of Landcare’, and by 1997 there were about 2500 local groups in operation, involving some 30 per cent of commercial farming operations in Australia. This high level of participation is seen as a measure of the success of the Landcare ’movement’, and of the unique contribution it has made to the goal of environmental management. The introductory chapter to this volume quotes from Andrew Campbell, the first national Landcare facilitator, who asks us to: Imagine a country in which one person out of every four belongs to a conservation group, actively seeking ways of improving their local environment. Think 213 about the possibilities of this scenario for issues such as waste management, water quality, transport, urban design, food and fibre production, and wilderness management. In rural Australia, this is already happening (p. 1).

Rural Sociology – Does it have a future in Australian Universities?

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsGeoffrey LawrenceGeoffrey Lawrence is Foundation Professor of Sociology, Head of the Department of Social Sciences, and Director of the Rural Social and Economic Research Centre at Central Queensland University. He has written widely about rural social issues in Australia and has conducted numerous national social research studies. He has had a long and dose affiliation with Charles Sturt University’s Centre for Rural Social Research. He was visiting Professor in the Department of Rural Sociology at Cornell University during late 1996.

The 1994 Australian Landcare Conference ‘Landcare in the Balance’

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsStewart LockieStewart Lockie is a doctoral student with the Centre for Rural Social Research and is undertaking his PhD on sociocultural processes affecting rural environmental management, with a particular focus on Landcare.Frank VanclayDr Frank Vanclay is a rural and environmental sociologist with the Centre for Rural Social Research, with a particular interest in the social aspects of farmer environ mental decision making and the sociological analysis of agricultural extension.

Child Sexual Assault Protocols - An Evaluation

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsMike CollingridgeCopies of the full report Speaking the Sama Langumage: An Evaluation of Child Sexual Assault Protocols are available from the Centre for Rural Social Research.