The Influence of Home based Businesses on Rural Women's Social Empowerment

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the Influence of home based businesses on rural women''s social empowerment. The research method was a survey and data were collected by a questionnaire and an interview. Statistical population included 265 rural women with home based business in the county of Islamabad-Qarb. The sample size consisted of 161 subjects from these rural women selected by Cochran''s formula and a random sampling method. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire and an interview whose validity was verified by a group of professors and experts. The reliability of the questions were tested during a pre-test process by using a Cronbach''s alpha test and it was 0. 92 (α=0. 92). These showed a high potential research tool for gathering information. SPSS for statistical tests and LISREL for Goodness of Fit Tests and Structural Equation Modeling were used. The results of paper showed a good and expected fitness level of the structural equation model for the rural women''s empowerment. Moreover، research findings indicated that the social empowerment of 63. 3 % of women studied was high and there was also a significant relationship between social empowerment and type of home based businesses.