Effects of Rural People’s Participation Level on Successful Implementation of Rural Guidance [Hadi] Plan: A Case Study of Dashtestan County of Iran

This study aimed at investigating the factors affecting the participation of rural people in the preparation process of Rural Guidance [Hadi] Plan in rural settlements. It was an applied research conducted in a descriptive-analytical method.Library-survey research and field works were used for data collection. The population included 12 rural settlements in Dashtestan County of Iran, in which the participation of the rural prople in the implementation process of the plan had been remarkably significant. In the villages, based on Cochran formula, the sample size of the households interviewed included 257 households of which 136 households had participated in the plan. In addition, 28 people from the rural authorities (including rural administrators known as Dehyar and members of the Islamic Council) were also interviewed so that we could compare the results. Research results showed that based on single sample t-test, the participation level of the rural people in the preparation, adoption and implementation of the plan was moderate; in variable of ‘success in implementation process’, the housing dimension with the mean of 3.33 was more successful and generally, among the studied villages, Chahar Borj and Talheh villages respectively had the lowest and highest means in this variable. Besides, the results of correlation and stepwise regression showed that the effects of the rural people’s participation level on the success of the Rural Guidance Plan were significant.