فصلنامه پژوهشهای روستایی
سال نهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 35، پاییز 1397)

Encouragement of entrepreneurial activities is an important strategy for sustainable economic development. To develop programs that can provide effective support for entrepreneurship, it is important to understand what elements affect the success of entrepreneurs. Many entrepreneurial development programs are designed regardless of urban or rural contexts. This is while the spaces and conditions in rural areas are different from those in urban areas. The aim of this study is to investigate different factors that affect the success of rural and urban entrepreneurs. The study population consisted of two groups of rural and urban entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector. According to the Krejcie and Morgan table, the sample size was determined to be 315. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. The results showed that there is a significant difference between urban and rural entrepreneurs in terms of individual resources, economic resources, political support, socio-cultural support, and resources for success. The entrepreneurs in urban areas benefit from these advantages more than those in rural areas. The results of the regression analysis showed that the variables of economic resources among urban entrepreneurs and socio-cultural support among rural entrepreneurs are the most important factors that affect the success of entrepreneurs.

Undoubtedly, setting up agro-processing industries is one of the most profitable ways of creating communication between industry and agriculture. These industries reduce seasonal unemployment in rural areas and serve as a strategy for entrepreneurship and employment in the agriculture sector. Despite their potential for expansion, such industries do not have a good status in the county of Frieden. The aim of this study is to investigate the barriers to the development of agro-processing industries in the county of Frieden. The research is of applied type in terms of objectives, non-experimental in terms of the control of variables, and descriptive in terms of data analysis. The study population consisted of 150 experts, industrialists and workers in the agro-processing industries of Frieden County. The data were analyzed through the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and the LISREL software. The results showed that economic, structural, environmental, infrastructure, and geographical features are the potential factors to pose the main obstacles to the processing industries in this county.

This research is of an applied descriptive-analytical type. Data collection was based on documentary and survey techniques. The statistical population of the research included active individuals in the field of rural tourism and local officials. As many as 223 people who were the most active in the local tourism were selected. This selection was in terms of their access and participation in the field. Also, 10 officials were selected. In the first step, an ISM software program was designed for the primary design and data analysis. In the second step, the LISREL structural equation modeling software was used to test the primary model. Finally, to design a futuristic scenario for marketing elements, the Mic Mac software was used. The results indicated that, from the standpoint of the local authorities, the elements of "promoting and planning" have the most direct impact on the success of rural tourism marketing. However, the element of "planning" has the most dependency on the other elements of the study.

This study aims to provide optimal strategies to strengthen green ethics in relation to the consumption behavior of rural families. The research is an applied type, and its method is descriptive-analytic. The subjects of analysis are the rural households in the central area of Khaf County. A documentary method was used, and the field data collection tool was a questionnaire. In this study, the tools that strategic planning and management benefited from were SWOT and QSPM. Based on the field studies and the documents, 18 advantages and 12 weaknesses were identified as opportunities and threats facing the green ethics in rural households in relation to their consumption behavior. According to the final scores in the evaluation matrix, the internal and external factors were 2.64 = IFE 2.86 = EFE respectively. These scores were used to boost the green ethics and the corresponding optimal aggressive strategies. Then, the desirable strategies were prioritized by means of the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). The strategy of "massive financial and technical support of indigenous knowledge in the field of green ethics" scored 1.045 and was, therefore, determined as the most important strategy. Since human behavior is involved in any environmental issue, it is necessary for managers to correct human relationships with the environment based on the patterns consistent with green ethics.

In recent decades, reduction of space to mere objectivity has created problems for the science of geography. One of the issues in the recognition of geographical space is reflected in the geographical research that is confined to purely quantitative methods. This paper is an attempt to have a pathological analysis of the principles of geographical knowledge (i.e. ontology, epistemology and methodology) with respect to the dominant paradigm of geographical research, in general, and in rural geography knowledge, in particular. A content analysis of 70 recent geographical articles (rural studies) showed that positivism has been the dominant approach in geographical research. Also, in 54 articles, the relationship between the researcher and the researched was identified to be a dichotomous subject-object relationship. The goal of this article is to seek an understanding of "language" as a starting point to examine the local actors' space. Along with language, there are other tools to contribute; questionnaires, statistical models, and software analysis techniques such as the GIS software are of benefit too in this respect.

A careful study of the dimensions of human life in rural areas and its accurate recognition for the design and construction of suitable houses require a special look at rural housing research in terms of physical, technical, economic, cultural, social and environmental aspects. This research analyzes the records in the literature on rural housing by referring to scientific journals in the field. The findings of the study indicate that most of the research has been conducted in a descending order in the provinces of North Khorasan, Fars, Zanjan, and Sistan and Baluchestan The series of studies carried out can be classified under nine issues including rural house designing and modelling, sustainable housing, structural-functional changes in houses, native architecture of Iranian houses, planning and policy, facilities and credits, housing rehabilitation, analysis of housing indices, and geographic analysis of housing elements. The findings of this research indicate three main approaches adopted in the study of rural housing in Iran. As much as 83.58% of all the research has been conducted with quantitative methodology, 13.43% with qualitative method, and just 2.98% (two cases) with combined methodology. Also, as the results show, of all the rural housing research in the country, 34.22% is retrospective, 11.94% is prospective, and 53.73% has addressed the existing housing situation.

A decline in watersheds or their uneven distribution can affect social relationships among the residents in watershed areas and lead to their conflicts. Due to a lack of water in Doroudzan watershed as a crisis, it seems that social relationships and communication patterns among the residents will be adversely affected. The aim of this research is to manage conflicts over the water resources in Doroudzan watershed with a focus on social relations and to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the social relation networks. In this regard, 260 local stakeholders of the water resources in the irrigated villages in Doroudzan dam downstream were selected as the statistical population using Morgan table. The required data were collected through questionnaires, and the cooperation networks among the people were investigated in order to solve the problem of water shortage. Based on the results of this research, trust and cooperation ties were the key factors identified. They are known as social power, key factors in decision making and better performance of co-management, and a resolution to water conflicts. Also, according to the results of Kruskal Wallis statistical test, there is a significant difference between the social status of the people and the approaches adopted in conflict management of the water resources in the studied area.

Mass media draw upon the meanings and values prevailing in everyday life and exert profound effects on the social entity of villages. They affect all individuals and social aspects and play a decisive and meaningful role in the beliefs and attitudes of members of the society. They are also an important source of promoting, propagating or changing the values of rural communities, including social trust. Given the role that mass media have in social trust, the present study examines the impact of mass media on reducing the social trust of villagers. The research is an applied study conducted by a descriptive- analytical method. Kenvist rural district was selected as the study area. To determine the number of sample villages according to the NO formula and from 23 villages that had over 200 people each, 11 villages with the highest population were selected for the case study. Also, the sample size was determined to be 196 persons by using Cochran’s formula. The data extracted from questionnaires were analyzed by SPSS and GIS software programs and through ARAS techniques. The findings showed that satellite programs have had the most effects on decreasing the social trust among villagers. Also, according to the village ranking, the villages of Shotorak and Kenargoosheh have received the most and the least influence from social media in this regard respectively.

Until now, a large number of studies on tourism in rural regions have concentrated on the recognition of its positive and negative impacts on economic, social, cultural, and environmental dimensions. However, considering the different views held by local people of the impact of tourism, few studies have been carried out to compare the perceptions of stakeholders, especially from the perspective of rural residents. This research aims to do a comparative analysis of the perceptions of local residents about the impacts of tourism on the villages of Kolan river basin in Malayer County. The research method is a mixed procedure. In the qualitative phase, during six sessions, group brainstorming was done by 60 persons participating as local volunteers. They tried to identify the positive and negative impacts of tourism. The findings in this phase were used to design a questionnaire as a measurement tool in the quantitative phase. As many as 350 questionnaires were given to 10% of the population over 15 years of age. The data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, chi-square, and ANOVA. According to the exploratory factor analysis, the positive impacts were classified into economic, environmental, and social factors. Similarly, the negative impacts were classified into three factors in terms of environmental, social and security, and cultural impacts. The results of the cluster analysis showed three different perspectives. In most cases, there were significant differences between the perceptions of the local residents in terms of positive and negative impacts of tourism. The findings are consistent with the principles of social exchange theory.

Nowadays, paying attention to the issue of sustainability, especially in rural areas, has become a pivot in the policies and plans of countries in the world. Identifying the status of rural areas in terms of sustainability can be of great help in this regard. The purpose of this study is to assess the sustainability of rural areas in northern Savadkouh. The study used a descriptive method to analyze and collect data through a questionnaire. The statistical population of the study consisted of the villagers living in the villages of northern Savadkouh. A combination of the Delphi fuzzy technique and the artificial neural network was used to analyze the data. At the first, using the Delphi fuzzy method, the stability indices were localized. Then, using the artificial neural network method, the rural areas were divided into two clusters. The results showed that there was proper and balanced stability in the rural areas of the study area (CV = 0.062). In addition, the results of the One-Sample T-test showed a significant difference among the indexes except for the empathy index and the gender ratio. Also, in all the three dimensions of sustainability, the human and natural supports of the rural areas of the northern Savadkouh region had a good balance and equality. Finally, the findings showed that the villages of Burkhill and Ikew ranked first and second, and the villages of Hajikla and Baikorka ranked 14th and 15th in this regard.