The evaluation and assessment of deprivation level in rural areas Case: central part of Javanrood

Introduction: Poverty and deprivation are being considered as one of the master problem for the government more specifically for planners in many countries. Deprivation and combating these phenomena are in the center of regional planning. In fact regional balance attainment is being pursued as a mater regional planning target. Achieving this goal demands identification of back ward and deprived regions however the identification of these areas faces some ambiguity. Lack of clear and comprehensive definition of deprivation in general and rural deprivation in particular, leads to over lapping and interfering of poverty, deprivation and underdevelopment concepts. This is associated with lack of an appropriate measure for the assessment of rural deprivation and its process. However, more attention was devoted to objective depravation measure and indices as opposed to subjective ones. This in turn, demands scientific technique. Depravation is highly affected by temporal and spatial dimensions. That is, its corresponding components and elements are different both time and space wise. There exist many methods and a technique regarding the assessment of deprivation at national, regional, rural and urban levels each is associated with specific measures. Thus, designing appropriate measures for assessment of depravation level at different level is inevitable. This study aims to propose a proper definition as well as appropriate corresponding measures and indices for assessing rural depravation. Doing so requires application of five groups of both subjective and objective measures with economic social and environmental dimensions (sustainable approach) at regional level that is village level. This demands the proposition of two following questions associated with corresponding hypothesis: Which indices and measures would be the best fit for assessment of depravation level of Java rood bordered county? Is there any area of the study area as for as the depravation significant difference between rural levels is concerned? Application of both subjective and objective indices and measures is more capable of this kind of assessment. Furthermore, there exists a possibility of difference among rural areas. Methodology: This study is based on documentation as well as field works. This is followed by distribution of two types one decomposes indices associated with both subjective and objective measures. Which were determined after getting feedback from social science, economic, sociology, geography and planning experts. After this scientific confirmation, the second and final questionnaires were designed in order to identify different villages based on depravation level. This included both close and open-ended questions regarding housing status send to rural households. After gathering the needed data out of questionnaires and coding them through SPSS, the hypotheses were tested. Moreover, TOPSIS was applied for ranking villages based on their deprivation levels. Through application of the clustering analysis, villages were grouped in to 3 clusters. The finding this study further represented through GIS illustrations. The study area is central section of Javan Rood (Kermanshah) composed of 2 districts and 78 hamlets. Random classified sampling technique led to selection of 10 villages. The application of Cochran formula at 95% confident level at 0.5 probabilities led to 190 sample size. This study is associated with objective and subjective measures and 42 indices dimension which all tested with social, economic and environmental. Conclusion: Under development and depravation with sustainability approach could be assessed using environmental, economic and social dimensions along with subjective and objective measures and indices. It is argued that subjective measures comparing with the objective ones possess more weight and magnitude regarding depravation level. In as much as having relative prosperity is prerequisite for development thus, assessing depravation level and orienting toward sustainable development as an ultimate goal of planning require application of both subjective and objective measures and indices. It is argued that all research and development plans need application of subjective measures capable of perceiving all real aspect of life. Thus all depravation studied need to consider both type of measures and indices. Since one society may not be deprived in terms of objective measures standpoint. Subjective measures and indices emphasize attitudes. However, objective measures stress realities. Depravation is highly affected by spatial and temporal varied both dimensions and its components and factors time wise and space-wise. Assessment of subjective measures demands application of questionnaire. However objective measures are based on statistic. This study confirms the importance of subjective measures. In addition there exists a significant difference among different villages in terms of depravation level. In rural development process, the promotion and improvement of all rural areas is recommended. However, more attention should be devoted to depravation villages. Achieving sustainable development demands the application of balanced pattern with emphasis upon weaknesses and injustice.