Multi-modal systems method: The impact of normative factors on community viability

This is an analysis of viability in a small village in northern Sweden and a contribution to testing the multi-modal systems method (MMSM). With the aid of the method, factors important to a village's life were selected and relationships between them analysed, to see if they promoted or threatened viability. Relationships are characteristic of a small community and it is argued that viability is best understood by examining relationships. MMSM proved a useful tool for studying relationships between the factors selected, between various modalities of community life, and between community groups. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.