Influence of Co-operative Societies on the Socio-economic Development of Members in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas, Rivers State

Abstract

The study investigated the influence of co-operative societies on the socio-economic development of members in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas, Rivers State. The study adopted a descriptive survey design.  The population for the study consisted 694 members in 48 registered cooperative societies operating in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas of Rivers State. The sample for the study was 347 members selected from 48 cooperative societies in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas of Rivers State. Purposive and proportionate sampling technique were used to select 50% of members of cooperative societies from each Local Government Areas. Five research questions were posed while five null hypotheses were formulated. The instrument used for data collection in the study was titled “Influence of Cooperative Society on Socio-economic Development of Members Questionnaire (ICSSDMQ). To validate the instrument, copies of the instrument (ICSSDMQ) were given to the researcher’s supervisor and two experts in the Department of Educational Foundations, Rivers State University, Port Harcourt for face and content validity. A reliability coefficient of 0.89 was established. The data collected for the study were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the responses of the research questions, while the null hypotheses were tested using z-test. The study found that cooperative societies provide employment generation for members in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas of Rivers State. Also, the study found that cooperative societies provide members’ educational support for community development in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas of Rivers State through giving of scholarship to members and provision of educational materials to students’ members among others. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that cooperative societies should raise funds to set up a small and medium enterprises (SMEs).