Definitions and measures of rurality are important to researchers and policymakers as they have implications for policy and practice. By conducting a systematic review, we provide a comprehensive overview of the various ways in which rurality has been defined and operationalized in empirical and quantitative analyses. We describe how descriptive definitions and measures of rurality have changed over time, particularly due to global and regional urbanization and advances in statistical techniques and data availability. We also provide a comprehensive breakdown of the dimensions and components of rurality measures, an overview of the techniques used in constructing rurality measures, and discuss the uses of rurality measures in research and policy. Finally, we discuss current limitations of descriptive rurality research, future directions, and implications for policy and practice.

中文翻译：

---

乡村的定义、测量和利用：实证和定量文献的系统回顾

农村性的定义和测量对于研究人员和政策制定者来说非常重要，因为它们对政策和实践具有影响。通过进行系统回顾，我们全面概述了在实证和定量分析中定义和实施乡村的各种方式。我们描述了乡村的描述性定义和衡量标准如何随着时间的推移而发生变化，特别是由于全球和区域城市化以及统计技术和数据可用性的进步。我们还提供了乡村性措施的维度和组成部分的全面细分，概述了构建乡村性措施所使用的技术，并讨论了乡村性措施在研究和政策中的使用。最后，我们讨论描述性乡村研究的当前局限性、未来方向以及对政策和实践的影响。