Perceptions of extension functions for rural development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to ascertain the perceptions of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture graduate students on the importance of Extension functions for rural development. In this study graduate students were grouped into: (1) American and international graduate students; and (2) graduate students with and without previous professional work experience. A questionnaire was mailed to 200 graduate students for the assessment of the importance of 34 Extension functions for rural development. The total response rate was 58%. To analyze the responses two statistical tests were used: the Student's t-test and the Spearman's rank order correlation (rs). It was found that the American and international graduate students perceived a majority of the Extension functions alike, but the international students gave them greater importance. Overall, these students ranked the functions similarly. The graduate students with previous professional work experience gave greater importance to the Extension functions than those without such experience, but their rankings were similar.