Measuring Social Capital among Agricultural Cooperatives Members In Markazi Province

The main purpose of this study was to measure the social capital among agricultural production cooperative members of Markazi Province of Iran. A descriptive- survey research was used. The population consisted of all members of agricultural cooperatives (N=2084). Using multi stage random sampling procedure and Cochran’s formula, (n=120) members were selected as sample. The validity of the questionnaire was established by a panel of experts from the faculty members of Economics as well as Management and Agricultural Development Departments at the University of Tehran. Cronbach’s alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instrument (α=0.90). The result showed that the level of social capital was at moderate level, but social trust, social cohesiveness and life value and impact were at low level. Also, the results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that sharing knowledge and social participation was the most important factors of social capital among cooperative members of Markazi province.