Presentation of Water Footprint Calculation Model Based on Structural Equation Model

Subject Areas : Aquatic Environmental Science

mahnaz mirza ebrahim tehrani ¹ (Dept. of Environment, Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran)
R. Marandi ² (Dept. of environment Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch)
M. Neamati ³ (Dept. of Environmental management at HSE, Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch)

Received: 2018-04-14 Accepted : 2018-06-08 Published : 2018-06-20

Keywords: environment, Sustainable Development, economic and social factors, Water footprint, structural modeling,

Abstract :

This is a descriptive correlation and data collection based research for practical purposes. The data collection was done by library research, and field studies were performed using statistical population and distribution of questionnaires. The questionnaire was used using Likert 5 option scale and ranking levels with a reliability of 0.8 and face-to-face validation. The sample size was selected based on the qualitative research and structural equation model from Morgan table was used - a statistical population of 100 people with a confidence level of 99% (99 samples).The information from the questionnaire was transferred from SPSS software to AMOS software, after designing the structural equation model (confirmatory path analysis) and after applying the latest corrections to the confirmatory factor analysis model, the results of structural equation modeling, including standardized regression coefficients and multiple power correlation coefficients were reported. The descriptive findings of the variables showed that from the eight most obvious variables (technical, scientific, political, financial, cultural, social, time and place), the cultural factor had the highest mean (according to the Likert spectrum), and the lowest mean was related to scientific factors.Normality of variables was reported by measuring their skew and elongation. The first order factor analysis was performed to examine the factor loads of variables and the fitting of the model. Because of the desirability of 3 of the 5 indexes reported, the fitting of result showed that the variables are desirable. Structural model findings, confirm that water resource control on water footprint-water footprint calculations affects socio-economic and environmental development.The significance of the paths of variables is significantly more than the critical ratio index (CR) of the water footprint with socioeconomic factors with CR of 5.015. Considering the research objectives and the proposed model, it can be concluded that control of water resources directly depends on numerous factors of technical, scientific, political, social, economic, cultural, time and place and influence in tracking water calculations. Affected by these issues, macroeconomic issues and sustainable socioeconomic development are also affected by water footprint calculations. By examining past studies of water footprints, it is clear that the research can be incomplete, especially in the internal sector, when basically the nature of the water footprint measurement has not been done specifically in accordance with international standardsand in fact no research has been done accordingly so far.Also, in the the reviewed articles, most of the concerns raised are the lack of proper management of water resources, addressing the economic, social, cultural, political and environmental factors separately. The proposed model attempts to compensate for some of the scientific shortcomings and provide a new step in the calculation. Key words: Water footprint, structural modeling, environment, economic and social factors, sustainable development

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