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Rural sociology is a field of sociology associated with the study of social life in non-metropolitan areas. It is the scientific study of social arrangements and behaviour amongst people distanced from points of concentrated population or economic activity. Like any sociological discipline, rural sociology involves the examination of statistical data, interviews, social theory, observation, survey research, and many other techniques.
In contrast to rural sociology, urban sociology is the study of urban social life.
Agribusiness is one focus of rural sociology and much of the field is dedicated to the economics of farm production. Other areas of study include rural migration and other demographic patterns, environmental sociology, amenity-led development, public lands policies, so-called "boomtown" development, social disruption, the sociology of natural resources, rural health care and education polices, etc.
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Sociologists define "rural" as those areas which are not urban in nature. The line between urban and rural is quite arbitrary, although rural sociologists in America often use the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of rural as being an area of fewer than 1000 people per square mile.[1] The 2000 Census reported that rural America was home to nearly 21% of the U.S. population (59,274,000 people).[2] Recent research has examined the "rural" and the "urban" as linked parts of a dialectical discourse.[1]
Rural sociology became prominent during the late industrial revolution in France, Ireland, Prussia, Scandinavia, and the US. As urban incomes and quality of life rose, a social gap appeared between urban and rural dwellers.
Early works of Max Weber in the late 19th century were concerned with rural sociology. The term was first coined in the USA.