Reliable household water supply remains a problem for many small rural neighborhoods. Safe drinking water is increasingly becoming a national issue, and many small rural systems do not have the governmental supports, both financial and technical, that assure them an adequate and safe household water supply. This study focused on describing the attitudes and practices of 43 householders in a low-income rural neighborhood that owned their own water system. They had experienced chronic water problems for eight years, and were trying to get the county to take over the system. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire that was developed by the researcher. An 82 percent return was achieved. Dependent variables used for analysis were: age, sex, educational level, income, and tenure status. Findings showed that most residents took minimal action to prepare for water shortages: storing only two-five gallons in plastic jugs, females taking this action more often than males. No one had developed a larger storage system. Most residents relied on family and friends for emergency water, as well as alternative bathing and toilet facilities. Forty-five percent also used a privy or the woods for alternative toilet facilities. Older residents were more likely to use sponge baths as alternative bathing. The worst problems with the situation were not having water and carrying alternative supplies. Though the majority of residents were not satisfied with the water system, they felt the cost of water was about right. A majority of residents were satisfied with their housing and the location in which they lived. / Master of Science

This study examined the opinions of 552 residents of rural Virginia regarding acceptance of manufactured homes, formerly known as mobile homes, and their occupants. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent respondents' demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, innovativeness, and perceptions of manufactured home characteristics, its occupants and neighborhood characteristics, predicted the acceptance of manufactured homes. Data were obtained from two mail surveys distributed among eight rural counties. One survey covered single-section manufactured homes (N = 274) and another covered double-section manufactured homes (N = 278). A proposed theoretical model was adapted from M. J. Dear and S. M. Taylor's (1982) model for community attitudes toward mental health care facilities. Hypotheses were tested through multiple regression analyses. The statistical model for the full sample included 13 independent variables. Six variables (perceived manufactured home occupant behavior, proportion of manufactured homes in the county, perceived manufactured home condition, manufactured home type, respondents’ gender, and manufactured home knowledge) emerged as significant predictors of manufactured home acceptance (R² = .3541). Separate regression models for the single- and double-section manufactured home subsamples were evaluated. In the single-section manufactured home subsample, perceived manufactured home occupants’ behavior, proportion of manufactured homes in the county, and perceived manufactured home condition were significant predictors of single-section manufactured home acceptance (R² = .2522). In the double-section manufactured home subsample, perceived manufactured home occupants’ behavior, perceived manufactured home condition, respondent's manufactured home knowledge, and neighborhood physical homogeneity were significant predictors of double-section manufactured home acceptance (R² = .3574). Results suggested respondents' socioeconomic and demographic characteristics were not important in predicting manufactured home acceptance. Instead, acceptance was mostly the result of perceptions about occupants’ behavior, a finding consistent with Dear and Taylor's (1982) study about acceptance of mental health facilities. In general, double-section models were more accepted than single-section models. / Ph. D.

Increasingly, information on rural land is needed by land owners, realtors, investors, appraisers, government officials, and researchers to make effective economic and policy decisions involving land. One source of information that could meet this demand is local real property tax records. These records continuously provide parcel data relating to value, use, ownership, location, size, and taxes. These records also provide data on transfers of rural land, such as sales price, previous ownership, date of transfer, and type of transfer. Transfer data, in particular, may be useful at meeting data needs because sales prices are generated strictly from market interaction and because rural transfers represent only two to four percent of all rural parcels, thus providing a small, efficient sample to rely upon. Transfer data have often been used in land market analyses, particularly for local land markets. However, questions have arisen as to the representativeness of parcels sold of all parcels. The purpose of this study is to determine whether transfers of rural land are representative of all rural land parcels in terms of value and several value-producing characteristics. To accomplish this, an economic model is developed to explain the variations in the assessed per acre value of rural land in three Virginia counties. This model is then transformed into a statistical model that examines a data set composed of all rural land parcels and a data set composed of bona fide transfers occurring in 1983. The regression results of the two data sets are statistically compared. In addition, comparisons of the two data sets are also made on the basis of mean assessed land value per acre, per acre assessed land value distribution, and parcel size distribution. The results of these comparisons indicate that bona fide transfers of rural land are not representative of all rural parcels in terms of value and value-producing characteristics. / M.S.

Master of Science

M.S.

The purpose of this study was two-fold: first, to determine the reliability of the reconnaissance method of land classification as indicated by various farm management, home economic, and other economic factors; second, to determine the economic conditions existing on each class of land, attempting to measure the relative importance of the major factors affecting farm financial successful on land of different classes. / Master of Science

This research uses primary cross-sectional non-farm-household data collected from Virginia’s non-metropolitan areas for the 1989 year. The primary objective of this research is to identify the factors that influence the probability of being self-employed. Using an effective sample of 851 household heads, a model consisting of two dichotomous probit equations are specified and developed to determine the statistically significant factors that influence, first, the probability of labor force participation, and then the likelihood of being self-employed. The probit equations are estimated by the maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) procedure, using LIMDEP, an econometrics program. The Statistical Analysis Systems (SAS) is used for descriptive analysis and comparisons. The empirical results reveal that human capital characteristics influence the likelihood of labor force participation. A gender-disaggregated analysis illustrates that presence of pre-schoolers, and an employed spouse all decrease the probability of being in the labor force for women. For men, the variables have an increasing effect. Overall, two key findings emerge from the analysis with respect to identifying the determinants of being self-employed: That human capital investments in the form of education and particularly, labor market experience, play an influential role in determining the probability of being self-employed; and that access to and availability of financial resources, for example unearned income, are important factors in determining an individual’s likelihood of being self-employed. / Master of Science