RSS 1.0Rural Sociology electronic theses and dissertations (MU)
The items in this collection are the theses and dissertations written by students of the Department of Rural Sociology. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Columbia. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
Items in MOspace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
Recent Submissions
-
Mobile truck entrepreneurship: motivations and strategies of non-food mobile retail truck entrepreneurs in the United States
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)This dissertation set out to explore the emerging phenomenon of modern mobile retail trucks opening for business across the United States starting in the early 2010s. Thirty-one participants were interviewed, and the data ... -
Acculturation and social capital of somali muslim women
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2022)This study examines the social capital and acculturation of 20 Somali immigrant women who participate in a community garden in a small Minnesota town. Even though some of them did not enter the U.S. as refugees, all of the ... -
A social network analysis of the use of social media to promote agriculture to indonesian youth
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)Farmer regeneration remains a big challenge for Indonesia to address food insecurity and promote sustainable agricultural development. With the issue of aging farmers, youth have the potential to become agents of change ... -
Exploring factors associated with free and reduced-price lunch participation in missouri school districts
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)Participation in school meal programs is critical for meeting the most vulnerable children's daily food requirements while allowing School Food Authorities to get reimbursed for the meal provided and thus continue to run ... -
Small-medium enterprise experiences of financial service in urban and rural settings : a phenomenological study of a changing community finance landscape and the sustainable finance narrative
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)Relationships between small-medium size businesses ('SME') and community banks are complex, meaningful, and often described as characteristically "opaque". This study offers a conceptual framework for exploring this ... -
When Walmart leaves small towns : vulnerability, food insecurity and community resilience
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2021)Walmart store closures, especially in rural areas, seem to be continuing since the company is moving forward in serving its urban customers and investing heavily in its digital features and markets. If this scenario happens, ... -
Narrating disturbance : risk, power, and Mountain Pine Beetles
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)Beginning in the mid 1990's, an outbreak of Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in northern Colorado affected over 3.4 million acres of primarily lodgepole pine forest. Mountain Pine Beetle are native to these ... -
Food insecurity and foraging food from gardening, hunting, and fishing among supplemental nutrition assistance program and eligible supplemental nutrition assistance program families
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)Households participating in, or eligible for, USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) deploy many food acquisition strategies to enhance their food security because the SNAP program is intended to supplement ... -
'We only do food' : social assumptions of poverty and the implementation of emergency food services
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2020)Food pantries are a critical social safety net for food insecure households, yet the growth of food pantry services in the United States has not been accompanied by an equal increase in research related to their organizational ... -
Church outreach to Latino/a immigrants in Missouri and their mental health issues
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Latino immigrants have steadily moved into new rural areas of the Midwestern United States. This has involved adapting to a new community context, new ... -
Perceptions of rangeland degradation and its causes in the Peruvian Altiplano dry puna
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)This qualitative case study investigated rangeland degradation in Peru by better understanding the social component of the Altiplano dry puna rangeland systems. Participants' perceptions of rangeland degradation and its ... -
Transnationalism from below : an exploration of transnational engagement behavior of Nicaraguan immigrant entrepreneurs
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)This study explores the concept of transnationalism through individual experiences of migrants from the community of Villa Sandino, Nicaragua that have become entrepreneurs as immigrants in the United States. Through ... -
Agricultural genetic engineering technology and sustainable development in the African food security context
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2019)This dissertation seeks to address specific questions: the extent to which SD informs proponents of GE benefits, how farmers' practices are included in GE proponents' arguments, and the applicability of the claim that the ... -
Social capital and membership in dairy cooperatives in Kenya
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Dairy cooperatives in Kenya have been promoted for over 50 years as an important mechanism for providing collective bargaining power for the rural poor (Dobrin, 1970; Musalia, et al, 2007). The cooperative business model ... -
Into the forests (and fields and yards) : re-thinking rural development and local food systems with wild harvesters in the Ozark highlands
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2018)Local food systems are regularly advocated as a strategy for community economic development focused on market-based practices. Two particular critiques of this strategy have emerged that underlie this study. The first is ... -
Rural emergency management : an inter-organizational case study
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)Preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation are the essential disaster management functions that characterize emergency management. Emergency management is a multi-organizational activity. The connections between these ... -
Examining forms of capital : the satisfaction with the education and the higher education opportunities of the children of Latino families in three rural communities in Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)This study aimed to investigate how forms of capital relate to satisfaction with the education and the higher education opportunities of the children of Latino families in three rural communities in Missouri. The specific ... -
Survival of the preppers : an exploration into the culture of prepping
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)This dissertation is an exploration of the culture of prepping in the Midwest. The research aims to provide a better understanding of why people engage in prepping and how they go about doing so. Thirteen preppers were ... -
The role of social capital and acculturation in healthcare access : the case of Hispanics in Missouri
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)Hispanics are today the largest group with the lowest access to health care in the U.S. as measured by several studies that quantify rates of uninsured and percentages who lack a primary care physician (R. Andersen, Lewis, ... -
Social networks and access to soybean value chains in rural Mozambique
(University of Missouri--Columbia, 2017)Mozambique is one of the poorest, malnourished and foreign aid dependent countries in Africa. About half of its 27 million people live below poverty in the rural areas and depend on agriculture. Over the last ten years, ...