ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book illustrates how important it is for researchers to gather information about people in rural areas to help policymakers formulate informed decisions at the national, state, and local levels. It discusses the importance of cooperation among disciplines, universities, and agencies in building a comprehensive rural information system. The book explains how rural areas are extremely diverse and can no longer be considered as a catch-all category for data that must meaningfully describe the various rural conditions. It provides a tremendous opportunity for universities to demonstrate the capability to respond to public citizen needs. The very individuality present in university faculty research which has made complementarity and cooperation a problem provides the flexibility needed to make necessary changes relatively quickly. Universities must seize this opportunity to respond.
