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Rural Anomia: a Study of Selected Farming Communities in Northern Alberta

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Rural Anomia: a Study of Selected Farming Communities in Northern Alberta University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1971 Rural anomia: A study of selected farming communities in northern Alberta William Randall Meeks The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Meeks, William Randall, "Rural anomia: A study of selected farming communities in northern Alberta" (1971). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 5271. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/5271 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RURAL ANOMIA: A STUDY OF SELECTED FARMING COMMUNITIES IN NORTHERN ALBERTA ‘ By N. Randall Meeks B.A., University of Montana, 1964 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA- 1971 Approved b y : airman, Board of Examiners De Graduate school Date It 2/ UMI Number: EP40735 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI EP40735 Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am most grateful to Dr. G. Browder, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Welfare, University of Montana, and Chairman of my thesis committee, who provided valuable advice, criticism and insight. I owe my sincere thanks to Dr. C. LeRoy Anderson, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Welfare, University of Montana, who took personal interest in the research from its inception and provided continual encouragement and valuable suggestions. Dr. R. Wayne Pace, Chairman, Department of Speech Communication, University of Montana, made several timely and helpful comments. I am also thankful to Mr. C.R. Corner, Department of Sociology and Anthropology and Mr. Douglas D. Dau, Programmer, Data Center, The University of Calgary, for their methodological and technical advice. The completion of the present research owes much to the co-operation of the respondents in St. Paul County and the Tangent Area The encouragement of my employers over this period, namely the Economic and the Extension & Colleges Division of the Alberta Department of Agriculture and the Division of Continuing Education, The University of Calgary, are also appreciated. Miss Donna Fraser, Mrs. Ann Glenn, Mrs. Doreen Neville and Miss Jeannette Poot gave invaluable assistance by editing, typing and correcting the final draft. And last but not least--to Diena, Debbie, Alaine, Billy, Eldon and Michelle--thanks for your patience and support. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION ................................. .... 1 II REVIEW OF L I T E R A T U R E ............... .................. 11 III RESEARCH DESIGN ...................................... 21 IV ANALYSIS OF DATA . .......................... 32 V SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ............................... 49 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................... 56 APPENDIX ......................................... 62 Appendix A - Questionnaire........................ 63 Chapin's Social Participation Scale ............................ 74 Sewell's Short Form Farm Family Socio-Economic Status Scale .... 75 Technological Level Scale...... 76 Srole Scale of Anomia . ........... 77 Appendix B - Table 1A and IB .................... 78 Table 2A and 2B . ."................. 79 Table 3A and3B ..................... 80 Table 4A and 4 B ..................... 81 Table 5A and 5 B ..................... 82 Table 6A and 6B . ................. 83 Table 7A and 7 B ..................... 84 Table 8A and8 B ..................... 85 Table 9A and 9 B ................ 86 Table 10A and 1 0 B ................... 87 Table 13 88 -iii- LIST OF TABLES TABLE PAGE 1. Relationship of ethnic origin to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area c o m b i n e d ........... ^............... 33 2. Relationship of religious background to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined................................................ 34 3. Relationship of Sewell's Farm Socio-Economic Status Scale scores to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County andTangent Area combined.................. 35 4. Relationship of level of-education to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined.................•............................... 36 5. Relationship of gross income to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined . 37 6 . Relationship of level of technology score to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined................................ .. 40 7. Relationship of farm size (in acres) to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined............................... 41 8 . Relationship of Chapin's Social Participation Scale score and anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area c o m b i n e d ................... .. 42 9. Relationship of age to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area combined.................. 43 10. Relationship of years lived in the area to anomia level for farm operators, St. Paul County and Tangent Area c o m b i n e d .................................................... 44 11. Comparisons of anomia level of farm operators in St. Paul County and Tangent Area using Srole's Anomia Scale .. 46 12. Summary of findings of eleven individual hypotheses tested ..................................... 48 -iv- LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE PAGE 1. Effect of Agricultural Technology on Population and Differentiation in Rural Communities ...... 4 2. Percentage of Rural Families in Canada Classified as Poor, by Province, 1968 8 3. Map of Province of Alberta Showing Census Divisions Twelve and Fifteen . ................. 26 4. Map Showing Location of St. Paul C o u n t y ................ 27 5. Map Showing Location of the Tangent Area ............. 28 -v- CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Background The contemporary world appears to be changing more rapidly than at any time in human history. In North America., particularly in Canada, changes of. great and varied magnitude have occurred.^ Among the more significant are: 1) The movement of vast segments of the population from the country to urban centers. For example, one hundred years ago, Canada, was predominantly an agricultural nation. Today she is substantially urban with less than 10 per cent of her population living on farms. One of her provinces, Alberta, is reputed to have one of the highest rates of urbanization in the world.^ The impact of the process of urbanization upon the country is immense. 2) The diffusion of individual and social attributes between the rural and urban sectors of society. With the establishment of transportation and communication links between rural and urban communities, outside forces of influence and control began to affect the communities. Commenting on this phenomenon, T.L. Smith states: In brief, the modern systems of social interaction and communication make possible a. much more rapid dissemination ^Walter J. Anderson and Marc-Adela.rd Tremblay, eds., Rural Canada in Transition. (Ottawa: Mutual Press Limited, 1966), pp. viii xii. ^Ed Polanski, "Alberta. Tops in Rural Exodus", Calgary Herald, September 14, 1970, p. 20. (Reference to article in daily paper, paged consecutively throughout.) - 1- -2- of useful inventions and discoveries among farm people, a process that has been greatly retarded in the past by the lack of contact between the many small parts of a highly segmented rural society. They also make readily available to rural people all urban social and cultural phenomena; and in many ways this factor has produced the most drastic changes in rural life. In this 'interchange of values, ideas and behavior patterns between the rural and urban segments, the rural people are experiencing many more deeply significant changes than the u r b a n . ^ The preceding reflects but a few of the great social, economic and technological changes which have taken place primarily during the twentieth century and which have significantly affected contemporary living - both rural and urban. In the rural community, the evolution from traditional agriculture to the highly technical and scientific industry it is today has noticeably influenced the life and livelihood of rural people. The promise and threat of technology:are becoming increasingly evident. Technological change has made possible whole new patterns of organization and individual life styles. An indication of technological change in agriculture is the number of persons each farm worker supplies with farm products. In 1900 the average farm worker supplied farm products
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