The musical term Ballad most commonly refers to a poem set to music or a story told through song. It is particularly significant in Appalachian Music and History because it represents a cultural tie to the British Isles which was the point of origin for many early settlers in the mountains. Ballads also played an important part in the construction of Appalachian stereotypes. Between 1916 and 1918 Cecil Sharp collected ballads in selected parts of the region. He was looking for very specific types of songs with Anglo-Saxon origins, and, therefore, his research obscured much of the cultural diversity that existed in the mountains. The popularity of his work furthered the notion that Appalachians were overwhelmingly white and of Anglo-Saxon descent which was a powerful stereotype throughout the twentieth century

CORA was a religious organization that fought for social justice in the southern mountains with a strong emphasis on poverty-related issues. For forty years, from 1965 to 2005, CORA founded and/or supported numerous groups such as the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprise and the Appalachian Ministries Educational Resource Center in Kentucky, the Virginia Black Lung Association, the Southern Empowerment Project in Tennessee, and Stop Abusive Family Environments in West Virginia, to name a few. (http://www.wvcc.org/docs/last-will-test.pdf accessed 24 June 2008)

There are many definitions of culture and a wide variety of ideas about how it functions socially and historically. Merriam-Webster defines it as: “a) the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations and b) the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time.” (www.m-w.com) Debates about culture, however, extend well beyond this. The most important debate in regard to Appalachia concerns the role of culture as it relates to poverty and the idea that Appalachia is somehow an anomaly in mainstream American culture. Historically, commentators were too quick to assume that there was a cohesive homogenous culture of the region and much of the research on and in the region reflects this overgeneralization. Some have seen culture as a causative force that has trapped Appalachian people in patterns that have made it difficult for the region to “progress” and “develop” successfully. Others challenge this assumption and view culture as adaptive to circumstances that are largely structural in origin. As researchers in the region, it is important to establish an informed view of culture and to think carefully about how it relates to your project.

Culture of Poverty theory is a social theory that emerged in the late 1950s that attempts to explain cycles of poverty by studying the values and behavior of poor people and how these are passed on to subsequent generations.. Some Appalachian scholars and commentators found it to be a useful way of understanding Appalachian poverty (see Weller, Jack. Yesterday’s People. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1962). This inclination informed early twentieth century portrayals of Appalachian culture as homogenous, essentialistic, and fundamentally flawed. Many recent scholars are critical of this theory for “blaming the victim” while obscuring larger structural issues that contribute to patterns of persistent economic impoverishment.

A discourse is an institutionalized way of speaking and writing that determines not only what we say and how we say it, but also what we do not say. Discourses provide a unified set of words, symbols, and metaphors that allow us to construct and communicate a coherent interpretation of reality. In addition to rhetoric, discourses determine what entities are constructed, which relationships are considered natural, and who has agency within the discourse. In so doing, discourse creates the pre-debate consensus that will affect how the rest of the debate will proceed.
(http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/cis/wp/johnsoja/whatisdiscourse/index.html, accessed 9 June 2008)

Federal transfer payments are funds distributed from the federal government to American citizens. This includes Social Security, Disability, Veterans’ pensions, Medicare and Medicaid, family assistance (welfare), food stamps, unemployment and worker’s compensation for federal employees, etc. These are particularly relevant to Appalachian research because these payments are proportionally much higher in some Appalachian counties than elsewhere in the United States. In these counties Federal Transfer payments tend to be one of the top sources of income for residents. This is an economic indicator that signifies a struggling economy.

Geographic Determinism is the idea that the course of history, culture, economic development, and a variety of other factors is largely determined by geographic conditions. In regard to Appalachia, it suggests that the mountains are the primary determinant of Appalachian culture and historical development because of questionable factors such as isolation from markets or the relatively diminished role of slavery, to the less controversial presence of valuable natural resources beneath the surface.

Heterophony refers to texture of music where different variations of one melody are performed simultaneously. It is uncommon in most Western music, but is a key component of bluegrass and folk music often associated with Appalachia.

A musical style that combines urban hip-hop with rural folk and bluegrass.

The living wage level is the per hour pay a full time worker would need to earn in order to support a family above the poverty level. It varies by location. A strong movement exists to enact legislation to ensure a living wage for employees. At this point, the push for living wage ordinances only apply to particular employees commonly associated with government contracted employers and, to a lesser degree, public employees in various capacities. For more information on the Living Wage movement see www.epi.org, www.livingwagecampaign.org, www.universallivingwage.org

Modernization Theory is a macro-level theory of social and historical change that posits the centrality of cultural change on attitudes and values brought about by such forces as urbanization, industrialization, and mass communication. Modernization Theory assumes that Western industrial capitalism is the goal to which all societies should strive. It considers all other economic-political systems as inferior or deficient systems that are lagging behind on the unilineal evolutionary path toward “modernism.” In one of its most influential formulations, sociologist Talcott Parsons distinguished "modern" social action as emotionally neutral, highly specific in focus, and oriented toward achievement and individualism. In contrast, cultural traditionalism emphasized ascriptive status, highly diffuse and emotional relationships, and an orientation toward group needs rather than the self.

Breaking the linear mold of conventional research, Participatory Research focuses on a process of sequential reflection and action, carried out with and by local people rather than on them. Local knowledge and perspectives are not only acknowledged but form the basis for research and planning. Many of the methods used in Participatory Research are drawn from mainstream disciplines and conventional research itself involves varying degrees of participation. The key difference between participatory and conventional methodologies lies in the location of power in the research process.
(Social Science & Medicine. Volume 41, Issue 12, December 1995, Pages 1667-1676, quoted in abstract)

“Social constructionism is a general term sometimes applied to theories that emphasize the socially created nature of social life. Of course, in one sense all sociologists would argue this, so the term can easily become devoid of meaning. More specifically, however, the emphasis on social constructionism is usually traced back at least to the work of William Isaac Thomas and the Chicago sociologists, as well as the phenomenological sociologists and philosophers such as Alfred Schutz. Such approaches emphasize the idea that society is actively and creatively produced by human beings. They portray the world as made or invented–rather than merely given or taken for granted. Social worlds are interpretive nets woven by individuals and groups.” (quoted directly from http://www.encyclopedia. com/do1O88-socialconstructionism.html accessed 10 June 2008)

The principal concern of social epidemiology is the study of how society and different forms of social organization influence the health and well-being of individuals and populations. In particular, it studies the frequency, distribution, and social determinants of the states of health in a population. Thus, social epidemiology goes beyond the analysis of individual risk factors to include the study of the social context in which the health-disease phenomenon occurs. (Epidemiological Bulletin, Vol. 23 No. 1, March 2002)

War on Poverty is an umbrella term which refers to a variety of efforts on the part of the federal government in the 1960s to alleviate poverty. It was initially launched by President Lyndon Johnson in 1964. Along with urban centers, Appalachia was a target area for War on Poverty programs. The influx of federal funds and organizations has had a deep impact on the region from the 1960s to present.