ISU sociologists are studying changes in 100 rural Iowa communities during the last 10 years in order to improve future development efforts.

Researchers received a $210,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to complete the survey, which assesses the quality of life in the communities.

In 1994, the same survey was conducted in the same 100 rural communities around Iowa. In each of Iowa’s 99 counties, at least one community with a population between 500 and 10,000 was randomly selected for the study.

Paul Lasley, professor and chairman of sociology, and Terry Besser, associate professor of sociology and member of the research team, said these communities are being studied again in order to compare results from the previous study and to determine which communities have experienced change or development and how it came about.

Lasley said people assume residents in small communities know each other and work together, but that’s not always the case. He said community size doesn’t determine the amount of development or economic vitality. Instead, social capital — trust and relationships within a group of people — is more important.

“They will be able to measure the sense of community connectedness in order to stimulate local vitality,” he said.

Results from this study will be beneficial for community leaders and residents, Besser said.

“I think that it will be a good tool to help community leaders and state leaders to assess whether or not development strategies work,” she said. “We will have a research base to inform their strategic planning [for development].”

Besser said survey and interview questions will assess quality of life, perceived community threats, feelings residents have about their sense of community belonging, government services and other services and facilities within the city.

Surveys and phone interviews are expected to be completed later this semester. Analysis will take at least a year to complete, Besser said.

“I think this is going to be extremely useful for communities of all sizes,” Besser said.

Lasley said community residents can begin to improve development by voting, volunteering, involving themselves in local organizations and holding offices.

Besser said it would be nice to conduct another survey in 2014 to continue assessing development in rural communities.

“There is no other set of data, no other study that parallels this in understanding the challenges that communities face,” she said.