We only use parametric techniques (like t test, z test) when we are certain about the distribution of the variable of interest.
When we don’t know its distribution, it is safer to use non-parametric tests. These tests have no assumptions about distribution of the dependent variable.
In fact, it has been argued, quite sharply, that in all social sciences, we should use non-parametric, rather than parametric, tests.
This can be a source for someone who is investigating social aspects of innovation, innovation adoption, etc.
http://www.ssrn.com/link/Sociology-Innovation.html
There is a vast literature on diffusion of innovations or adoption of innovation, here are some of them:
Boahene, K. (1995). Innovation adoption as a socio-economic process : the case of the Ghanaian cocoa industry. Amsterdam: Thesis Publishers.
Boahene, K., Snijders, T. A., & Folmer, H. (1999). An integrated socioeconomic analysis of innovation adoption: the case of hybrid cocoa in Ghana. Journal of Policy Modeling, 21(2), 167-184.
Boahene, K. S. T. A. B. F. H. (1999). An integrated socioeconomic analysis of innovation adoption: the case of hybrid cocoa in Ghana. Journal of Policy Modeling (New York), 21(02), 167-1874.
Dumett, R. (1971). The Rubber Trade of the Gold Coast and Asante in the Nineteenth Century: African Innovation and Market Responsiveness. The Journal of African History, 12(1), 79-101. doi: 10.2307/180568
Feder, G. (1985). Adoption of agricultural innovations in developing countries a survey. Economic Development and Cultural Change, Chicago, p. 255-298, Jan. 1985.
Kaplinsky, R. (2004). Competitions policy and the global coffee and cocoa value chains Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://www.ids.ac.uk/FA0B8240-5056-8171-7B8943D52FF0DA62
Personal variables affecting adoption of agricultural innovations by Nigerian farmers. from http://ajol.info/index.php/sajae/article/view/3664
Pomp, M. B. K. (1995). Innovation and imitation : adoption of cocoa by Indonesian smallholders. World development., 23(3), 413-431.
Rogers, E. M. (1983). Diffusion of innovations. New York; London: Free Press ; Collier Macmillan.
Scott, J. C. (1976). The moral economy of the peasant : rebellion and subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Scott, J. C. (1998). Seeing like a state : how certain schemes to improve the human condition have failed. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Wejnert, B. (2002). Integrating models of diffusion of innovations: a conceptual framework. Annual review of sociology, 28, 297.
Interrater reliability is the common term here. Two coders will code the same text separately and then discuss how much they agree with each other.
If such practice is impossible, the writer/researcher can make a brief report and ask interviewees to comment on it. Alternatively, the researcher can organize a workshop to present initial findings and ask invited interviewees to tell how much the initial findings reflect their stories.
This practice helps to reduce the possibility that researcher imposes his own ‘theoretical frame’ on the data and miss important ‘emic’ perspectives.
This site answers those questions. Though it is run by the government, it’s still a good source on rural health that I have happened to know.
http://www.nal.usda.gov/ric/ricpubs/what_is_rural.shtml
A serious discussion of ‘rural’ has never been seen in the universities where I worked and studied. Yet, the term ‘rural’ has been used widely and wildly. It is time to think about the concept ‘rural’ seriously.