Investigating the Relationship Between Entrepreneurship Indicators and Sustainable Rural Development Using Focal Analysis (Case Study: Rural Settlements West of Urmia Lake)

The development of rural entrepreneurship is the key to solving various problems in the country's rural communities, including unemployment, poverty, food insecurity, migration, social anomalies, etc. The study aimed at investigating the focal correlation between entrepreneurship indicators (X variables including success, …) on sustainable rural development (Y variables including social sustainability, economic sustainability…) in rural areas west of Urmia Lake (in 2020-2021) to determine the variability between the two sets of variables. The statistical population of the study includes all households living on the western shore of Urmia Lake (N = 17738), of which 374 sample (households) were selected using Cochran's formula and multi-stage stratified sampling with proportional assignment. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed using face validity and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (Between 0.703 and 0.836). In this research, in order to investigate the objectives of the study, Canonical Correlation Analysisand Spearman's correlation coefficient were performed using SPSS software. The results of Canonical Correlation Analysis showed that there is a good linear combination between the set of focal variables of rural entrepreneurship indicators and the components of sustainable rural development in the studied areas. Also, the canonical correlation analysis of two significant sets showed that creativity (0.833) and self-confidence (0.898) have a significant relationship with economic stability (0.835) and physical stability (0.982). In other words, it can be concluded that by improving the situation of factors affecting the development of entrepreneurship in rural areas, we can see sustainable rural development. Therefore, it can be suggested to increase skills such as self-reliance, self-confidence, creativity, responsibility, etc. among the villagers through holding various training classes.