Personal Factors as Determinants of Utilization of Development Information in Rural Communities of South-South Geo-Political Zone, Nigeria

This study investigated the extent to which personal factors relate to the utilization of development information in the rural communities of South-South Geo-political Zone, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population comprised all adult male and female rural dwellers from the three out of the six states in the Zone (Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Rivers States). A sample size of two thousand, four hundred respondents was selected for the study. Questionnaire was used for data collection. The instrument which was validated by three experts in relevant fields has two parts: part A elicited the respondents' bio-data while part B consisted of five items which elicited information to answer the research hypothesis. The items were structured on a modified four-point Likert scale. In the research area, the instrument was administered personally by the researchers and with the help of research assistants. Percentages were used to provide information on the respondents' bio-data while ANOVA and multiple regression were used to answer the research question. While ANOVA determined the joint contributions of the predictors (dependent variables), multiple regression analysis indicated the relative contributions of the predictors. The results showed that the respondents personal characteristics had significant joint contributions to their utilization of development information; age, educational attainment and sex had significant positive contributions while marital status and occupation had negative contributions. It was recommended that rural development planners must take into account the special circumstances of the rural people especially their age, sex, occupation, educational level and marital status if they are to participate meaningfully in development.