Social Intra-Organizational Factors Affecting Farmer's Participation in Rural Production Cooperatives in Boyerahmad County

The general objective of the study was to examine the social structure of organizational member's participation in cooperatives in the central part of Boyerahmad County.

A survey research method was used in this study. Research population consisted of the members of Boyer-Ahmad RPCs members (N=1809) that included about 317 ones of they were selected as research sample based on random sampling table and stratified sampling technique. Data collecting tool was a researcher developed questionnaire that its validity was verified using Factor Analysis technique and its reliability was also verified using Cronbach’s Alpha internal consistency scales. The KMO scores (from 0.513 to 0.834) and Alpha Coefficient Scores (from 0.536 to 0.91) show proper optimality of the prepared questionnaire. Finally, some statistical analysis techniques such as Pearson Correlation Coefficient, Independent Samples t-test and Logistic Regression were used to analyze data.

the results indicate that about 57.6 % of the sample categorized as lower-middle participation that who were involved as a semi-active participant group, and 42.4% categorized as good and excellent participation in the group who were active participants. In addition, The results indicate that the majority of members of the cooperative were semi-active participation the affairs of rural production cooperatives (RPCs) are examined Logistic regression results showed that the factors such as satisfaction with the services provided by cooperative, board accountability, knowledge and awareness of members about the principles and laws of the cooperative, social capital of board, and attitudes to cooperation and teamwork are the factors affecting farmer's participation in RPCs in Boyerahmad County.Research limitation: One of the main challenges in this study is high costs of completing the questionnaire, according to the extent of the study area, the main challenges facing researchers in this study.Practical implication: It is concluded that the improvement of the factors mentioned can be expected to increase the participation of members in RPCs.