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This article proposes another research approach available to researchers for studying racial and ethnic integration. The measure, called the Neighborhood Diversity (ND) index, allows researchers to include multiple racial and ethnic categories while adhering to a comparable understanding of integration. The value of the ND index is illustrated through an examination of residential settlement by race in Chicago neighborhoods in 1980 and Despite the limitations of the measure, the ND index provides an important tool for measuring and categorizing increasingly multiethnic and multiracial populations, and for broadening our understanding of neighborhood integration and transition.

Rising fiscal pressure on local governments in rural areas of the United States is documented in this study. The level of fiscal burden on taxpayers to support local governments in non metropolitan areas is found to be high'er than that in metropolitan areas between 1977 and 1987. Using a model from the urban fiscal literature, the level of fiscal burden in nonmetropolitan areas is found to be influenced by a combination of demographic, socioeconomic, intergovernmental, and historical factors. Intergovernmental revenue transfers from the state and federal government play a critical role in determining the level of fiscal burden rural taxpayers bear. These findings have implications for rural economic development and for understanding how rural areas are influenced by the larger society.

School-based social activism projects have much potential to foster civic engagement, self-efficacy, and positive youth development. Social activism projects may also be a means by which children, a group that is disempowered due to their age and dependence on adults, might seek to positively impact social and community problems. The current study evaluated elementary school age children's (K-7th grade) participation in grassroots campaigns, which are year-long school-based activism projects that are a component of their school's comprehensive social justice curriculum. Results found that even young children could successfully and meaningfully participate in these school-based activism projects. Additionally, students' participation in these projects was characterized by a high level of enthusiasm and also facilitated a sense of community and empowerment in these children.