James A. Christenson

Increasing Mail Questionnaire Response: A Four State Comparison

Low response rates, poor data quality and the perceived necessity of limiting oneself to only a few questions have contributed to avoidance of mail questionnaires in studies of the general public. The effectiveness of a particular method for eliciting response to lengthy questionnaires was tested on state-wide samples of the general public in Arizona, Indiana, North Carolina, and Washington. The method, which depends on systematically manipulating all aspects of the data collection process produced response rates of from 69. 7 percent to 75.2 percent. It was equally effective in rural and urban regions. The data quality, as measured by item non-response, was uniformly high throughout the 85-165 item questionnaires. Results demonstrate that high response from the general public is possible.(We conclude that poor mail questionnaire return rates can no more be excused than can inadequate theory and/or inappropriate statistics.

Voluntary Organizations and Dominant American Values

The importance of values has long been asserted by sociologists who note the need for shared cultural understandings for the integration of social relationships. Because of their abstract nature, values do not dictate specific forms of behavior, but Williams (1967:26) has suggested that &dquo;values constitute especially economical sets of high-level guidance systems.&dquo; In broader terms, they may serve as standards to organize systems of action (Kluckhohn, 1962); a value &dquo;transcendentally guides actions and judgments across specific objects and situations, and beyond immediate goals to more ultimate end-states of existence&dquo; (Rokeach, 1968:160).

Rural Reflation: An Idea for Community Development

Rural reflation is a term for a small-scale socioeconomic approach to building livable economies in both depressed rural communities and rapid growth areas. Rural areas cannot become mini-metros, but decision makers can work to reflate their economies through the manipulation of resources and people, and particularly through maximizing the characteristics of their localities. With public participation, informed leadership, and organizational entrepreneurship, leaders can help citizens develop their communitys niche in the world economy.

A Procedure For Conducting Mail Surveys With The General Public

AbstractThis paper describes a procedure used in North Carolina for obtaining input from a large statewide sample of the general public through the use of a mail questionnaire. A response rate of 70 per cent was achieved at a minimal cost with a 12-page questionnaire including 167 items. A 12-step procedure is outlined for conducting such surveys.

Political Definitions of Rurality and Their Impact on Federal Grant Distribution: the Case for the Farmers Home Administration

Rural residents of the United States, comprising about a fourth of the population, account for a disproportionately large share of the nations poor and are more likely to live in substandard housing, lack utilities and have poor health facilities. Federal and state rural community development programs have attempted to address these inequities, but their success requires that program funds actually reach target audiences within rural areas. In some cases, program definitions of rurality are sufficiently broad as to allow funds to be distributed to urban areas as well, thereby reducing the potential of rural development programs. Looking at the distribution of Farmers Home Administration funds in Kentucky during fiscal year 1980, data suggest that the more urban nonmetropolitan counties (nonmetro adjacent counties) receive higher per capita funds than do the more isolated rural counties and that these funds do not seem to be directed toward the poor. These findings hold even when controlling for county ne...

Civil religion, social indicators, and public policy

What are the effects of civil religion on American society and culture? As a phenomena which presumably serves to integrate the political with the religious sectors of the national culture in the minds of citizens, it would seem that civil religion should have political consequences. Limited work has shown that civil religious beliefs help predict ones preference among presidential candidates. However, there have been no tests of civil religion as an indicator of public policy preferences. This investigation explores such relationships. While civil religion significantly related to stands on various public policies, these relationships are weak except in comparison to many other types of social indicators. Furthermore, civil religions political impact on public policy orientations would appear less than its impact on the selection of presidential candidates.

An exploratory analysis of select predictors of concern for law and order

Within the last decade concern for law and order has become a major domestic issue. Presidential candidates have campaigned on the issue. Opinion polls have charted the growing public concern. Crime statistics have reported startling growth in the number of serious crimes committed in the United States. This paper attempts to assess the ability of different variables to predict and explain this high concern. Two aspects of concern will be discussed: (1) awareness of and (2) willingness to do something about crime. Theoretically little is known about how awareness for a social problem can be translated into forms of action to deal with the perceived problem. Methodologically, a technique is needed for assessing the relative importance of different variables related to the problem area. Path analysis is discussed as a possible technique. The data was collected through a random sample of heads-of-households in the State of Washington during the summer of 1970 (N=3101; response rate=75%).Some of the major findings include: (1) people in larger cities are more aware of a crime problem than people in smaller cities and towns, but people in larger cities are less willing to allocate tax dollars to combat crime; (2) the size of city, and implicitly the crime rate, is the most important variable for understanding the public awareness of crime; (3) the elderly and those of conservative orientation are more willing to allocate funds to combat crime than the young and liberal, although there exists no difference in their awarencess of the problem; and (4) relative exposure to mass media, socio-economic status, or identification with ones community make little contribution to the understanding of either awareness of crime or willingness to allocate tax dollars to combat crime.

Public Input For Program Planning And Policy Formation

AbstractThis paper describes two state-wide studies initiated in North Carolina to involve a representative sample of the general public in an assessment of their needs and goals. The methodology employed and the conceptualization of the studies demonstrate that it is possible to efficiently and inexpensively obtain public input, that such input can provide viable information for program planning and policy formation, and that such efforts provide new channels for citizen participation in the decision-making process.

Structural binds: Consequences for community growth

Abstract The extent of differentiation of services is closely tied to a citys centrality. When differentiation is either very high or very low relative to centrality, a structural bind is apparent. Building on contemporary ecological theories and recent theories of growth, this paper tests whether structural binds are associated with the growth or antigrowth orientation of city mayors. Data from interviews with mayors of Kentuckys incorporated cities show a significant relationship between cities in structural binds and antigrowth orientations of city mayors. Mayors in cities experiencing no structural binds have strong growth orientations, which seems consistent with recent growth theories. The contextual effects of suburban location, economic conditions, and population growth patterns are discussed.

A Systematic Perspective of Applied Research in Community Development

AbstractThe temptation exists in community development work to move directly from social science theories to social recommendations without an investigation of the situation. The development of the middle ground between theory and action programs necessitates the coordinated and systematic utilization of applied research. This paper presents for thought and discussion a perspective interrelating five different types of applied research and its relevance to various community development clientele.