Research: Published articles about Community Development

Staff and consultants to the Extension Center for Community Vitality regularly conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of programs and to explore issues related to community development. We use this research to modify existing programs or develop new ones that better meet the needs of Minnesota communities.

We share these research reports in the hope they can benefit the field of community development, community leaders, business people and anyone interested in improving the health and vitality of our state.

Community Development Research Reports

Also see Program Research and Case Studies

Community Leadership: What Does It Take to See Results? (133 K PDF)

By Donna Rae Scheffert, Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota

Used with permission, Association of Leadership Educators

Journal of Leadership Education, Winter 2007

Primary Research Focus: Leadership Education

If your community is looking for more committed and competent leaders, what type of educational intervention will get the best results? Our leadership program engages with organizations and communities to strengthen leadership

The Effects of Leadership Development (690 K PDF) — Individual Outcomes and Community Impacts-A U-Lead Impact Study

By Stephanie Lott and Scott Chazdon, Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota

Self-published, January 2009

Primary Research Focus: Leadership Education

How does participation in U-Lead programs strengthen individual lives and promote the vitality of communities and organizations? This study of three U-Lead programs conducted in greater Minnesota provides some answers.

Ready for Engagement: Using Key Informant Interviews to Measure Community Social Capacity

By Scott A. Chazdon, Stephanie Lott, Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota

Published by the Community Development Society in Community Development, Volume 41, issue 2 April 2010, pages 156-175.

Used with permission

Primary Research Focus:  Community Readiness

Secondary Research Focus:  Social Capital and Leadership Energy

This article presents findings from 45 structured key informant interviews conducted in nine rural Minnesota communities to examine the readiness of rural communities to sustain long-term development initiatives requiring large commitments of time, staff, and volunteer resources. A model of community readiness is proposed based on the common themes that emerged from the interview data as well as the literature. The proposed model combines four components that contribute to a thorough assessment of readiness: bonding networks, bridging networks, linking networks and leadership energy. The study provides a new approach to help community development organizations make more strategic decisions about when and how to engage communities in long-term development activity.

Strengthening Social Capital to Tackle Poverty (1.2 MB PDF)

By Donna Rae Scheffert, Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota

Used with permission, Center for Rural Policy and Development

Rural Minnesota Journal, Fall 2008.

Primary Research Focus: Poverty

Secondary Research Focus: Social Capital

Women have a higher chance of winding up in poverty, especially if they are single mothers. Does moving to a rural community help or hurt mothers in poverty? Are there simple ways communities can assist families in poverty to give them a hand up?

Using a Comprehensive Leadership Framework as a Scholarship and Teaching Tool (101 K PDF)

By Kim Boyce, Center for Community Vitality, University of Minnesota

Used with permission, Association of Leadership Educators

Journal of Leadership Education, Fall 2006

Primary Research Focus: Leadership Education

Educators who work in community settings often encounter participants with a wide array of individual leadership beliefs, attitudes, and experiences. How can educators identify and use tools and methods that connect with participants’ real-life leadership experiences?

Contact Information

Scott Chazdon
Evaluation & Research Coordinator
University of Minnesota
Extension Center for Community Vitality
466 Coffey Hall, 1420 Eckles Avenue
Saint Paul, MN 55108
Email: schazdon@umn.edu
Phone: 612-624-0982
Fax: 612-625-1955

Program Research and Case Studies

Access E Internet Education

• E-Commerce Case Studies of Entrepreneur Use of the Internet
  These case studies of Minnesota entrepreneurs were written by University of Minnesota graduate students in 2003; they set out to learn how small businesses use the Internet.

Business Retention & Expansion

• BR&E Case Studies
  Through business surveys, analysis of findings, and sustained community action, cities and counties are making business retention and expansion (BR&E) efforts work. Extension examined communities with successful BR&E efforts in 2006; these case studies tell their stories.
• Research on BR&E Visitation Programs
  Extension studied three rural Minnesota communities’ participation in the BR&E program in 2001. Communities targeted general business, tourism and farms, respectively, with impressive results.

U-Connect

• Rural Migration: The Brain Gain of the Newcomers (600KB PDF) The population in rural Minnesota has changed significantly over that past decade. Many of the most interesting changes are commonly referred to as the rural rebound, the trend of population growth in rural areas. In the 1990s, over 2.2 million more Americans moved from metropolitan counties to non-metropolitan counties.
• Bridging Brown County Case Study: Connecting Communities and Finding a Future (1.58 MB PDF)
  Can traditionally disconnected communities learn to communicate, collaborate and solve unique issues facing rural communities? This effort in Minnesota says the answer is yes.

U-Lead

• Bridging Brown County: Captivating Social Capital as a Means to Community Change (984 K PDF)
  Journal of Leadership Education, Winter 2001
• Growing Minnesota Leaders: U-Lead Evaluation 2002-2004 (230 K PDF)
  Review the program outcomes of Extension’s U-Lead program in Minnesota in 2002-2004.
• Growing Minnesota Leaders: U-Lead Evaluation 1996-2002 (219 K PDF)
  Review the program outcomes of Extension’s U-Lead program in Minnesota in 1996-2002.