Volume 21, Issue 83 (3-2022)
refahj 2022, 21(83): 9-46 |
Back to browse issues page
Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:
ramezanpor nargesi G, fallah haghighi N, abdollahzade G, sharifi Z. (2022). Assessing the Provinces' Level of Development in Terms of Education, Health and Migration Indicators. refahj. 21(83), : 1
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-3964-en.html
URL: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir/article-1-3964-en.html
Assessing the Provinces' Level of Development in Terms of Education, Health and Migration Indicators
Full-Text [PDF 963 kb]
(1986 Downloads)
| Abstract (HTML) (2965 Views)
Full-Text: (284 Views)
Extended abstract
Introduction: Social development is a phenomenon that paying more attention to it leads to comprehensive growth in society. Communities that have problems in terms of social development will certainly encounter crises and social harms, and to prevent the occurrence of disorder, it is necessary to achieve social development by recognizing the possibilities, using all capabilities and planning carefully. In addition, social development is one of the most important dimensions of improving the quality of human life. Although the concept of social development has been seriously considered by experts and around the world in the past five decades, but still does not have a proper position in the planning and development in Iran. According to the Legatium Institute, Iran is ranked 123th among the 167 countries in terms of social development in 2021. It is worth noting that among social development indicators, educational and health indicators are of paramount importance in which without achieving equal education and health services, it is not possible to achieve social development. Hence, the first step for any action to improve the situation of social development in terms of educational and health indicators in Iran is to recognize the level of these indicators among the provinces of the country and to study the inequalities. Accordingly, the present study aimed at assessing development in terms of education, health, and migration indicators and its inequality among the provinces of the country.
Method: This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. In this study, 24 education, health and migration indicators were used according to the type of information available (The results of general population and housing census in 2018 and statistical yearbooks in 2018). The method applied in this research is based on the analysis of a set of indicators to construct a composite development indicator using various statistical techniques. In this study, first, calculating Williamson coefficient was calculated in order to investigate the inequality of each indicator. After that, the principal component analysis method was employed to weight the individual indicators. Then, the TOPSIS method was used to construct a composite indicator of provincial development. Geographical information system capability and cluster analysis have been applied for leveling in this research. There are five different methods for classification in ArcGIS, depending on the characteristics of the features. In this study, the default method or the method of using natural failure points has been employed. Cluster analysis is also one of the most widely used methods in regional geographical studies. In fact, it is a method for leveling regions, cities, villages, etc. in which the places located on one level are very similar to each other, but they are significantly different from the places on other levels. The value of the actual distance or scaling distance is related to the researcher.
Findings: Results of inequality coefficient analysis of educational and health indicators showed that the highest inequality were in the indicators including “dropout rate (percentage) in elementary school”, “ratio of rehabilitation centers to population” and “ratio of technical and vocational centers to population” whereas the lowest inequality were in the indicators including “junior high school passing rate”, “male literacy rate” and “female literacy rate” all of which were educational. Even though these indicators are not in a favorable situation in some provinces, the provinces followed a balanced pattern in these indicators. The result of principal component analysis technique revealed that the highest weight was given to the indicator of “population share covered by social security and health services in total” with weight (0. 971), while the lowest weight was given to the indicator of “number of professors per 100 students” with weight (0. 139). Findings of determining the rank of provinces in terms of education, health and migration indicators of social development indicated that the provinces of Charmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, Semnan, Ilam and Yazd are in the best situation whereas the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Alborz, Tehran, West Azerbaijan and Hormozgan have the lowest rank. The leveling results of different provinces based on the composite indicator also showed that Yazd, Semnan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, Ilam and Zanjan provinces are in the first level. At the second level of development are most of the western, central, and northern provinces. The third level of development, the provinces that are at a low level in terms of educational, health and migration indicators of social development, includes the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Alborz, Tehran, Qom, West Azerbaijan, Gilan and Khorasan Razavi. Based on the results of cluster analysis, the provinces of the country were divided into four clusters in terms of education, health and migration indicators of social development.
Discussion: This study aimed at analyzing social development inequalities in terms of education, health, and migration indicators among provinces of Iran. Based on this study there is inequality between the provinces of Iran in terms of those indicators which is confirmed by the results of leveling and cluster analysis as well. It is worth noting that most of educational, health and migration indicators are measured per capita and are actually affected by the population. As a result, some sparsely populated provinces such as Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, and Ilam were in high ranks and some densely populated provinces such as Tehran and Alborz were in low ranks. In fact, despite the expansion of facilities and development services in these provinces, the population density in these provinces has caused the imbalance of the population with the facilities, especially the mentioned indicators. In addition, the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, West Azerbaijan, and Hormozgan were at a low level of social development in terms of the studied indicators. Therefore, in order to establish a balanced social development in terms of educational and health indicators, it is suggested that provinces with low level of social development in terms of education, health and migration indicators should be considered for the allocation of more budget and they should also be given priority by policy makers, planners, and those in charge of development in the country.
Ethical Considerations:
Authors’ contributions
The authors contributed effectively to this article.
Funding
This article does not receive any financial support for its publication by any entity or organization.
Conflicts of interest
In the present study, the authors showed no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments:
In this article, in addition to observing the principles of professional conduct, all rights related to the sources cited are respected and the references are carefully cited.
Introduction: Social development is a phenomenon that paying more attention to it leads to comprehensive growth in society. Communities that have problems in terms of social development will certainly encounter crises and social harms, and to prevent the occurrence of disorder, it is necessary to achieve social development by recognizing the possibilities, using all capabilities and planning carefully. In addition, social development is one of the most important dimensions of improving the quality of human life. Although the concept of social development has been seriously considered by experts and around the world in the past five decades, but still does not have a proper position in the planning and development in Iran. According to the Legatium Institute, Iran is ranked 123th among the 167 countries in terms of social development in 2021. It is worth noting that among social development indicators, educational and health indicators are of paramount importance in which without achieving equal education and health services, it is not possible to achieve social development. Hence, the first step for any action to improve the situation of social development in terms of educational and health indicators in Iran is to recognize the level of these indicators among the provinces of the country and to study the inequalities. Accordingly, the present study aimed at assessing development in terms of education, health, and migration indicators and its inequality among the provinces of the country.
Method: This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of method. In this study, 24 education, health and migration indicators were used according to the type of information available (The results of general population and housing census in 2018 and statistical yearbooks in 2018). The method applied in this research is based on the analysis of a set of indicators to construct a composite development indicator using various statistical techniques. In this study, first, calculating Williamson coefficient was calculated in order to investigate the inequality of each indicator. After that, the principal component analysis method was employed to weight the individual indicators. Then, the TOPSIS method was used to construct a composite indicator of provincial development. Geographical information system capability and cluster analysis have been applied for leveling in this research. There are five different methods for classification in ArcGIS, depending on the characteristics of the features. In this study, the default method or the method of using natural failure points has been employed. Cluster analysis is also one of the most widely used methods in regional geographical studies. In fact, it is a method for leveling regions, cities, villages, etc. in which the places located on one level are very similar to each other, but they are significantly different from the places on other levels. The value of the actual distance or scaling distance is related to the researcher.
Findings: Results of inequality coefficient analysis of educational and health indicators showed that the highest inequality were in the indicators including “dropout rate (percentage) in elementary school”, “ratio of rehabilitation centers to population” and “ratio of technical and vocational centers to population” whereas the lowest inequality were in the indicators including “junior high school passing rate”, “male literacy rate” and “female literacy rate” all of which were educational. Even though these indicators are not in a favorable situation in some provinces, the provinces followed a balanced pattern in these indicators. The result of principal component analysis technique revealed that the highest weight was given to the indicator of “population share covered by social security and health services in total” with weight (0. 971), while the lowest weight was given to the indicator of “number of professors per 100 students” with weight (0. 139). Findings of determining the rank of provinces in terms of education, health and migration indicators of social development indicated that the provinces of Charmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, Semnan, Ilam and Yazd are in the best situation whereas the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Alborz, Tehran, West Azerbaijan and Hormozgan have the lowest rank. The leveling results of different provinces based on the composite indicator also showed that Yazd, Semnan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, Ilam and Zanjan provinces are in the first level. At the second level of development are most of the western, central, and northern provinces. The third level of development, the provinces that are at a low level in terms of educational, health and migration indicators of social development, includes the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan, Alborz, Tehran, Qom, West Azerbaijan, Gilan and Khorasan Razavi. Based on the results of cluster analysis, the provinces of the country were divided into four clusters in terms of education, health and migration indicators of social development.
Discussion: This study aimed at analyzing social development inequalities in terms of education, health, and migration indicators among provinces of Iran. Based on this study there is inequality between the provinces of Iran in terms of those indicators which is confirmed by the results of leveling and cluster analysis as well. It is worth noting that most of educational, health and migration indicators are measured per capita and are actually affected by the population. As a result, some sparsely populated provinces such as Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, South Khorasan, and Ilam were in high ranks and some densely populated provinces such as Tehran and Alborz were in low ranks. In fact, despite the expansion of facilities and development services in these provinces, the population density in these provinces has caused the imbalance of the population with the facilities, especially the mentioned indicators. In addition, the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, West Azerbaijan, and Hormozgan were at a low level of social development in terms of the studied indicators. Therefore, in order to establish a balanced social development in terms of educational and health indicators, it is suggested that provinces with low level of social development in terms of education, health and migration indicators should be considered for the allocation of more budget and they should also be given priority by policy makers, planners, and those in charge of development in the country.
Ethical Considerations:
Authors’ contributions
The authors contributed effectively to this article.
Funding
This article does not receive any financial support for its publication by any entity or organization.
Conflicts of interest
In the present study, the authors showed no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments:
In this article, in addition to observing the principles of professional conduct, all rights related to the sources cited are respected and the references are carefully cited.
Type of Study: method |
Received: 2021/09/13 | Accepted: 2022/01/11 | Published: 2022/03/16
Received: 2021/09/13 | Accepted: 2022/01/11 | Published: 2022/03/16
Send email to the article author
| Rights and permissions | |
 |
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
Contact Information
Social Welfare Quarterly
Social Welfare Quarterly, Social Welfare Research Department, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation, Daneshjoo Blvd, Evin, Tehran, Iran, 19857-13834
Journal Tel: 02171732851
Website: http://refahj.uswr.ac.ir
Email: refahj@uswr.ac.ir
