Sociology
Definition - The
systematic study
of human society
and social
interaction.
A society is a large social grouping that shares the same
geographical territory and is subject to the same political
authority and dominant cultural expectations.
Sociological Imagination
• The ability to see
the relationship
between individual
experiences and
the larger society.
Stereotypes
Rural Sociology
• Examining the relationships among non-metro. populations.
• Behaviours
• Traditions
• Trends
• Climate
• Constructs
Rural Sociology
• Rural sociology is a field of sociology
associated with the study of social life in
non-metropolitan areas.
• It is the scientific study of social
arrangements and behaviour among
people distanced from points of
concentrated population or economic
activity.
Rural Sociology
• In contrast to rural sociology, urban
sociology is the study of urban social life.
• Agribusiness is one focus of rural
sociology and much of the field is
dedicated to the economics of farm
production. (Coffey, 1982)
Rural Sociology
• Other areas of study include rural
migration and other demographic
patterns, environmental sociology,
amenity-led development, public lands
policies, so-called "boomtown"
development, social disruption, the
sociology of natural resources, rural health
care and education polices, etc..(Coffey,
1982)
Rural Sociology
• Sociologists define "rural" as those areas
which are not urban in nature.
• The line between urban and rural is quite
arbitrary, although rural sociologists in
America often use the U.S. Census
Bureau's definition of rural as being an
area of fewer than 1000 people per square
mile.
Rural Sociology
• The 2000 Census reported that rural
America was home to nearly 21% of the
U.S. population (59,274,000 people).
• Recent research has examined the "rural"
and the "urban" as linked parts of a
dialectical discourse
Rural Sociological Society
(RSS)
• By this time pretty much everybody knows that 2012 is the 75th
Anniversary of the founding of the Rural Sociological Society
and that our meetings will be held in the same hotel where the
RSS was launched in 1937.
• 75th Anniversary Meeting in Chicago at the Palmer House
Hilton
http://ruralsociology.org/
Rural Sociology
• What you may not realize is that 2012 is
also the 150th Anniversary of the founding
of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the
federal agency that has primary
responsibility for the quality of life in rural
America.