Analyzing Problems and Shortcomings of Modern Research in Rural Development Sociology in Iran

More than anything else the tradition of sociology in Iran has started with rural studies. Despite the plurality and diversity in rural development sociological studies in recent years, the level of cohesion has declined and most of them are individualized studies, that is, the researcher do not relate his subject of research to others and do not use other studies as a conceptual and theoretical source. Most of the researchers do not commit themselves to review and assess earlier researches critically; therefore, their findings are generally very dispersed, isolated and unconnected to other research findings which necessarily do not lead to the formulation and advancement of rural sociology in Iran. The lack of coherence among the research programs and the tendency towards the short term statistical studies raise this concern that rural development sociology will lose its status as an academic and theoretical subject among rural researchers. They devote most of their time either on writing project proposals and implementing them or testing imported techniques. This new methodological discourse among young rural researchers will entice and separate them from the latent reality of rural areas, which will reduce rural studies to a set of rural statistics. In addition to a description of rural community in Iran two important issues will be considered: lack of inter research connection and extreme orientation towards questionnaires.