A Meta- Analysis of Social Factors Related to Environmental Protection, Emphasis on the Role of Geographical Area in Iran

Today social scholars acknowledge that environmental issues are profoundly social and cultural. The purpose of this paper is to do a meta-analysis method through analyzing the results of some studies on the relationships between social factors and environmental protection. To carry out the present meta-analysis, 20 relevant researches were selected. These studies are conducted during 2011-2012 aiming at investigating the relationship between social factors and environmental protection and they are published in scientific journals. The surveys have been carried out using surveying tools in different statistical societies and on the basis of reliable metrics. First the validity of selected studies, homogeneity assumptions, and propagation errors were evaluated. The findings indicated heterogeneity of the effect size and the lack of bias in the studies. Then, the effect size, coefficient and the moderating role of the geographic variable were evaluated using the second version of the CMA software. Findings showed that the magnitude of the effect or coefficient of the influence of social factors on environmental protection was 0.338 which, according to Cohen's interpretive system, t is moderately upward. Also considering the geographical area as a moderating variable, this coefficient for the geographic area of the center of the effect size in the random model is 0.489, In Tehran geographical area 0.337, southern geographic area 0.222, northern geographic area 0.356, East geographic area it is 0.760 and for the west geographic area it is 201.0 which is significant at 0.001 level for all six geographical areas. Also, the overall effect size for all of the six geographical areas is 0.301.