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Abstract
Building upon previous research, this study reexamines the associations among community attachment, community-directed behaviors, and individual-level constraints to involvement in community-oriented actions. Using data collected in a general population survey from a random sample of individuals living in 22 rural places in Texas, the following two hypotheses were tested: (1) that community attachment is positively associated with community-oriented actions, and (2) that community attachment is associated with individual-level constraints to involvement in community-oriented actions. The first hypothesis received substantial support; the second hypothesis received moderate support. Possible implications of the findings for researchers, public leaders, Cooperative Extension personnel, and community development practitioners working in local communities in/around rural places containing population settlements are advanced.
Notes
1. A map depicting the seven Rural Economic Development Regions (and the counties therein) classified by the Texas Department of Agriculture in 2011 can be found at https://www.texasedc.org/sites/default/files/files/TDA%20Regional%20Team.pdf.
2. Of the selected households, no rejections to participation in the study nor mistaken addresses were identified. Therefore, the final sample size remained at 5608.
3. Here, as opposed to the earlier study (Theodori, Citation2004), previous attendance at a public meeting on town/city and school affairs was split into two separate questions.
4. Survey respondents were asked to indicate the category that best described their total 2012 household income from all sources before taxes. Response categories included 14 options, ranging from Under $9999 to $130,000 or more. From those categories, the dichotomous household income variable was created using $50,000 as a cutoff point, which was close to the Texas median income in 2012 of $50,740 (Noss, Citation2013).
5. Any procedure used to assess nonresponse bias has its strengths and weaknesses. See Smith (Citation1983) and Groves (Citation2006) for summaries of the major approaches used to assess nonresponse bias, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
6. Several researchers have provided evidence indicating a positive association between age and survey response rates (Angus, Entwistle, Emslie, Walker, & Andrew, Citation2003; Caan, Hiatt, & Owen, Citation1991; Gigliotti & Dietsch, Citation2014; Harrison, Holt, & Elton, Citation2002; Lusk, Delclos, Burau, Drawhorn, & Aday, Citation2007). Survey research conducted by Harrison et al. (Citation2002) and Gigliotti and Dietsch (Citation2014) further revealed that individuals who were 65 years of age or older had the highest return rates of any age group. The extent to which seniors (age 65 or older) were, in fact, more likely to respond to the TRS or were simply overrepresented in the original sample is unclear. Regardless, I strongly encourage readers to recognize that survey respondents were generally older and interpret the results of the analyses within said context.