Examining the Relationship between Geographic Groupings and Perspective of Critical Community Issues: An Audience Segmentation Analysis

The present study examined whether perception of critical community issues was dependent on respondents’ rurality, geographic region, or extension district in the state of Georgia, located in the southeastern United States. A non-probability sampling procedure was employed. A total of 3,374 responses were collected. Five critical community issue themes were analyzed: (1) youth and family development, (2) civic engagement and community development, (3) agriculture and economic development, (4) nutrition education and food availability, and (5) water. Descriptive statistics were analyzed. A series of chi-squared tests of independence were used to test for significant relationships between perception of critical community issues and geographic grouping. Statistically significant differences were observed between all groups (rurality, region, and district). Specifically, significant relationships were observed between all groups and perception of youth and family development and agriculture and economic development. A significant relationship between region and perception of civic engagement and community leadership was observed. Additionally, there was a significant relationship between rurality and water observed. The results indicate that programming efforts should be informed both by proximal communities as well as non-proximal communities sharing common characteristics.