A Study on Factors Effective on Participation of Agriculture Cooperative Members in Ilam Province A Case Study in Shirvan and Chardaval

The main objective of the current research involves the identification of the factors effective on the participation of cooperative members in Shirvan and Cheravadal townships, Ilam Province in 1990. It is of an applied, non-experimental field work using questionnaire as its data collection tool whose validity was approved by university professors and experts on cooperatives (Cronbach's alpha= 0.8). The statistical population comprised 751 members of active cooperatives in Shirvan and Chardaval townships, out of which, 260 were selected and studied through tables of Kerjsey and Morgan's minimum sample volume. Proportionate random method was adopted for sampling. The data were processed through SPSS software. Descriptive statistics (central and distribution indices) and analytic ones (step by step regression and correlation coefficients) were analyzed. The correlation results show that there is significant relations between variables of age, years of membership in cooperatives, size of farming plot, yearly income, cultural and economic characters, educational and extensional characters, managerial factors, psychological and political factors, and communicational issues on one side and member participation on the other side. Step by step regression shows that political, economic, managerial and social factors have a positive role in the participation of the cooperative members and account for 65 percent of the variance of participation- the dependent variable.