The Relationship between Socio-Economic Status and Type and Degree of Sport Participation (Case Study: Women in Ilam)

The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between socio-economic status and the type and degree of women’s participation in sport. The study was conducted using survey and the data were collected through questionnaires. The population consisted of women upper than 19 years of age and the sample consisted of 500 women. The sample was selected using multi-stage random cluster sampling. The results of the study indicate that housewives, with low levels of education and income have no sport participation. Women with medium levels of education and income often follow public sport while women studying in university and those with higher levels of education and income follow organized sports. Out of the dimensions of socio-economic status, the occupational position of the parents (r= 0/46), and family income (r= 0/40) had the highest correlations with women’s sport participation. In addition, results of the regression showed that socio-economic status explained about 18% of the variance in women’s sport participation.