James F. Evans Collection, This is a comparative analysis of the adjustment of a Danish and a Polish ethnic group to the American culture in a dairy farming area in central Wisconsin. The adjustment is evaluated in terms of recommended farm practices. These practices are grouped under three major categories: (1) livestock practices, (2) cropping practices, and (3) mechanization. For every trait measured the Danish farm group exceeds the Polish group in the proportion who have adopted the selected recommended practices. The performance suggests that the Danish and Polish ethnic groups are different universes from the standpoint of behavior and reaction to recommended dairy farming practices. The Danish and the Polish groups constitute distinct culture complexes, or subcultures, within the North central dairy region. the evidence of the study indicated that the cultural adjustments of the Danish group facilitate the introduction of new ides, whereas the adjustments of the Polish group tend to perpetuate status quo. (author)
Lindstrom, David E. (author / Professor of Rural Sociology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL) and Professor of Rural Sociology, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1958-06
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 43 Document Number: B05135
Sawhney, M. Mohan (author / Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University at Raleigh) and Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University at Raleigh
Format:
Journal article
Publication Date:
1967
Published:
USA
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 43 Document Number: B05153
INTERPAKS, Explores a frequently neglected aspect of adoption, namely how family characteristics influence utilization decision. The authors question the typical view of farmers as "individualistic actors", and direct research toward kinship arrangements, extended family networks, and group reinforcement for adoption decisions. The research centers on adoption of soil conservation practices in the Palouse are of Washington and Idaho. The findings demonstrate a definite link between kinship arrangements and adoption behavior: 1) farming with other relatives introduces additional information and opportunities for innovation; 2) two generations farming together tend to be more sensitive to future implications of production technologies. The research is limited to one area and one type of innovation, but it does raise the important issue of how the social organization of production affects adoption decisions.