Session 1: Community Development Collaboration through Applied Research
Location
Lewis 301
Start Date
16-7-2015 9:30 AM
Description
Moderator: Anna Kleiner. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies
Enhancing Community Capacity through a “Living Lab” in Nevada Missouri / Gary Glass, Jr., Bhawani Mishra, and Tracy Greever Rice. University of Missouri, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis
Key components of rural community development include improving the health status of local populations in addition to stimulating entrepreneurial activity and local economic growth to enhance a community's capacity to satisfy the needs of its citizens. The study compares Vernon County, which is home to the city of Nevada, with 6 other counties in Missouri. The comparison counties were selected using criteria such as geographic proximity to metropolitan areas and state boundaries, population density and distribution, population, household income and social determinants of health. All 7 counties in the study are classified as "rural" according to the USDA definition of areas with populations of less than 49,000 people and not contiguous to a metropolitan county. The analysis was conducted using data from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFFS), US Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The purpose of the study is to determine benchmark indicators that reflect timely, local descriptions of the status and change of the health of Nevada's population, measure the impact of specific intervention strategies and evaluate potential sectors for economic development. Formative analysis and summative evaluation of the "living lab" experience will facilitate positive outcomes in Nevada and will be used to inform correction and replication of the model for use throughout the delta region.
How Does Place Affect Access to “What Works”?: Knowledge Usage in Urban and Rural NGO Intervention Design / Caitlin Brooking, University of Mississippi, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
As a state consistently ranked last in many health rankings of note, Mississippi stands to benefit greatly from health interventions developed and implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). These NGOs depend on governmental and private foundation support, and, precipitated by the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) in 2001 (Biesta 2007) and Affordable Care Act of 2010, these funding sources more commonly require “evidence-based practices” (EBPs). It remains unclear how NGOs are currently utilizing data to design interventions, and whether they are primarily utilizing empirical data derived from formal evaluation or indigenous knowledge. To investigate the ways urban and rural Mississippi NGOs are utilizing data to develop solutions to combat health and wellness disparities, I will conduct and analyze the results of interviews with 30 NGO leaders in Jackson and in the Delta region (Clarksdale, Marks, and Cleveland). To explore the differences between NGOs using indigenous knowledge and those using empirical knowledge, I will conduct 10 in-depth interviews with a subset of the first 30 who indicate high usage of data in intervention design. This study will contribute to the sociology of development and the sociology of knowledge by elaborating on theories concerning the construction and use of knowledge to inform social change. The findings will expand understanding of the differences in use of knowledge in programmatic decision-making among rural and urban NGOs, an area fairly sparsely explored but critical for rural areas afflicted with poverty such as Mississippi.
Multi-Institutional Partnerships for Research and Development: Case Studies from UM2, Tri-County Workforce Alliance, and Visions of Hope / John Green. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies; Dana Thomas. University of Michigan, School of Public Health; Josephine Rhymes. Tri-County Workforce Alliance. and Sarah Walker. Visions of Hope
A wide range of community-university partnerships have been developed in recent decades to spur social and economic development, and scholars have analyzed these initiatives. Still, much of the extant literature is more aspirational than empirical in nature. This presentation will reflect on a decade-long partnership between the University of Michigan and two universities in Mississippi (starting with Delta State University and more recently involving the University of Mississippi) in both the Gulf Coast and Delta regions of the state. Attention will be directed at a comparative case study of two projects conducted with community organizations: the Tri-County Workforce Alliance (based in Clarksdale, MS) and Visions of Hope (based in Biloxi, MS). The presentation will end with lessons learned and recommendations for multi-institutional partnerships for community-relevant research and development.
Relational Format
Conference Proceeding
Recommended Citation
Presenters, Multiple, "Session 1: Community Development Collaboration through Applied Research" (2015). Delta Regional Forum. 5.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/dr_forum/2015/schedule/5
Session 1: Community Development Collaboration through Applied Research
Lewis 301
Moderator: Anna Kleiner. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies
Enhancing Community Capacity through a “Living Lab” in Nevada Missouri / Gary Glass, Jr., Bhawani Mishra, and Tracy Greever Rice. University of Missouri, Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis
Key components of rural community development include improving the health status of local populations in addition to stimulating entrepreneurial activity and local economic growth to enhance a community's capacity to satisfy the needs of its citizens. The study compares Vernon County, which is home to the city of Nevada, with 6 other counties in Missouri. The comparison counties were selected using criteria such as geographic proximity to metropolitan areas and state boundaries, population density and distribution, population, household income and social determinants of health. All 7 counties in the study are classified as "rural" according to the USDA definition of areas with populations of less than 49,000 people and not contiguous to a metropolitan county. The analysis was conducted using data from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFFS), US Census Bureau, Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The purpose of the study is to determine benchmark indicators that reflect timely, local descriptions of the status and change of the health of Nevada's population, measure the impact of specific intervention strategies and evaluate potential sectors for economic development. Formative analysis and summative evaluation of the "living lab" experience will facilitate positive outcomes in Nevada and will be used to inform correction and replication of the model for use throughout the delta region.
How Does Place Affect Access to “What Works”?: Knowledge Usage in Urban and Rural NGO Intervention Design / Caitlin Brooking, University of Mississippi, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
As a state consistently ranked last in many health rankings of note, Mississippi stands to benefit greatly from health interventions developed and implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). These NGOs depend on governmental and private foundation support, and, precipitated by the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) in 2001 (Biesta 2007) and Affordable Care Act of 2010, these funding sources more commonly require “evidence-based practices” (EBPs). It remains unclear how NGOs are currently utilizing data to design interventions, and whether they are primarily utilizing empirical data derived from formal evaluation or indigenous knowledge. To investigate the ways urban and rural Mississippi NGOs are utilizing data to develop solutions to combat health and wellness disparities, I will conduct and analyze the results of interviews with 30 NGO leaders in Jackson and in the Delta region (Clarksdale, Marks, and Cleveland). To explore the differences between NGOs using indigenous knowledge and those using empirical knowledge, I will conduct 10 in-depth interviews with a subset of the first 30 who indicate high usage of data in intervention design. This study will contribute to the sociology of development and the sociology of knowledge by elaborating on theories concerning the construction and use of knowledge to inform social change. The findings will expand understanding of the differences in use of knowledge in programmatic decision-making among rural and urban NGOs, an area fairly sparsely explored but critical for rural areas afflicted with poverty such as Mississippi.
Multi-Institutional Partnerships for Research and Development: Case Studies from UM2, Tri-County Workforce Alliance, and Visions of Hope / John Green. University of Mississippi, Center for Population Studies; Dana Thomas. University of Michigan, School of Public Health; Josephine Rhymes. Tri-County Workforce Alliance. and Sarah Walker. Visions of Hope
A wide range of community-university partnerships have been developed in recent decades to spur social and economic development, and scholars have analyzed these initiatives. Still, much of the extant literature is more aspirational than empirical in nature. This presentation will reflect on a decade-long partnership between the University of Michigan and two universities in Mississippi (starting with Delta State University and more recently involving the University of Mississippi) in both the Gulf Coast and Delta regions of the state. Attention will be directed at a comparative case study of two projects conducted with community organizations: the Tri-County Workforce Alliance (based in Clarksdale, MS) and Visions of Hope (based in Biloxi, MS). The presentation will end with lessons learned and recommendations for multi-institutional partnerships for community-relevant research and development.
