A Rural Community Pauses to Gauge Attitudes on the Road to an Alternative Economic Strategy
View/ Open
Issue Date
2010Author
Lamsam, Teresa Trumbly
Montgomery, Diane
Publisher
New Prairie Press
Type
Article
Article Version
Scholarly/refereed, publisher version
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This community-based research uses Q methodology to examine perceptions of tourism and downtown development in a lower Midwest town that has experienced continual economic downturn and decreasing population. With memories of the thriving ranching and oil heyday, some community members are approaching tourism as the new black gold. At the same time, there is a perception of a fractious community characterized by a heritage of racism, cultural tension, and an aging, burned-out volunteer base. One of the goals of this study was to help community planners make sense out of what they perceived as a jumble of viewpoints. The results of a Q study can help planners determine in a systematic way the significant, persistent attitudes surrounding the issue of tourism development from a broad community perspective. The Chamber of Commerce board members, community leaders, and volunteers used this study as a building block for their strategic plan in tourism.
Description
This is the publisher's official version, also available electronically from: http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/ojrrp.v5i3.201
Collections
Citation
Teresa Trumbly Lamsam. (2010) A rural community pauses to gauge attitudes on the road to an alternative economic strategy. Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy, 5 (3). http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/ojrrp.v5i3.201
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.