Affiliation:
1. Department of Development Sociology Cornell University
Abstract
AbstractSparsely populated rural areas are susceptible to high levels of error in their data, making it difficult to examine patterns and trends across geographies. This article aims to advance research methods for rural researchers by offering guidelines for navigating high levels of error associated with the American Community Survey (ACS). The ACS presents a useful source of U.S. community level data for rural researchers to utilize in school–community research but not without its difficulties. The small population sizes of rural communities often translate to large margins of error in the data, presenting a degree of uncertainty in the actual measure. To illustrate challenges and best practice, the author conducts a case study of the relationship between the presence of schools and economic vitality of rural communities in Indiana using ACS data. The author demonstrates how to examine the error in the data, introduces options to reduce uncertainty, and ultimately, explains how to move forward with the data, working with the margin of error and acknowledging its presence in the analysis and results. This article offers suggestions and techniques to assist rural researchers in navigating ACS obstacles so that they might produce transparent results with as little uncertainty as possible.
Subject
Sociology and Political Science
Reference39 articles.
1. School Closures in Rural Finnish Communities;Autti Outi;Journal of Research in Rural Education (Online),2014
2. How the ACS gets it wrong: The story of the American Community Survey and a small, inner city neighborhood
3. Rural Leaders, Rural Places: Problem, Privilege, and Possibility;Budge Kathleen;Journal of Research in Rural Education,2006
4. Casto Hope G. KristieLeBeau andJohn W.Sipple. Under review. “Leading for Educational Equity and Community Vitality: A Comprehensive School‐Community Framework”. [Correction added 16 June 2023 after first publication: Casto et al. was added.]
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献