Original Research Article

The Role of Labor and Effort in the Community Development Using Qualitative Methods: Case Study of Factories Operating in the Kurdish Regions in the Southern Part of the Western Azerbaijan Province

Hashem Aghabeigpoori^* and Jalil Sahabi

¹M.A of Sociology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
²Department of sociology, College of Humanities, sanandaj branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: hashemaghabeigpoori@yahoo.com

Accepted November 25, 2014

Abstract

The importance of human activities in individual and social life is no longer a mysterious issue. In the sample under study, labor is considered significant in all cases in order to avoid corruption and illicit activities. In-depth interviews and focus groups were used in this study to collect the needed data. ¬accordingly, 65 in-depth interviews plus 6 focus groups were conducted. Besides, the grounded theory was employed to analyze the data. The four categories of effort (with 10 concept), work culture (with 11 concept), ethics-centeredness (with 16 concept), and work conscience (with 8 concept) were extracted. Effort and work culture comprised modern values while ethics-centeredness and work conscience made up ethical values. The findings indicated that there were high levels of effort and work culture, work ethics, and work conscience among key cleric informants and successful companies. In contrast, people who were against labor considered it as mandatory and a source of suffering.

Keywords: labor, effort, work culture, work ethics, work conscience, ethics-centeredness