Evaluating the Aging Index in Rural Areas of Iran through Knowledge-based Systems

Abstract

Research in scientific fields is mainly a qualitative issue which requires a level of qualitative analysis and involves the discovery of the relationships among research variables. One of the most important issues in the discussion of human topics is demography and, in particular, the recognition of demographic features. In this regard, this study seeks to examine the state of aging in Iranian rural communities in 390 counties of the country by using fuzzy logic. The research is a descriptive-analytic type and applied in terms of purpose. It was carried out through secondary analyses. The required data were derived from the Statistics Center of Iran and covered six indicators including the ratio of aging and youth, the ratio of genders, the ratio of old age, potential support and parental support. The results showed that, according to the designed database, the rural areas in the margins of Iran have a low rate of aging due to desirable conditions in the six indicators. In contrast, the rural areas in the internal parts of Iran are severely aged and are moving toward aging rapidly. The results of this study were also compared with the ethnicity map of Iran. It was indicated that the findings of this study about the aging process strongly overlap the information on the ethnicity map. Due to the broad ethnic distribution in the geographical boundaries of Iran, the, the desire to have children is higher than that in the central parts of the country. This has led to an increase in the desirable values of the six indicators in the marginal areas and the superiority of those areas over the internal parts.

Keywords

• Rural population
• Aging
• rural settlements
• Knowledge-based systems