UNIVERSITY OF DENVER, 1990
 
                         POLITICAL SCIENCE, GENERAL (0615); ANTHROPOLOGY, CULTURAL (0326); HEALTH SCIENCES, PUBLIC HEALTH (0573); URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING (0999)
 

                         The dissertation is a diffusion-of-innovation area research study examining the adoption of community
                         water systems in three villages in the Nile Delta region of Egypt. It employs an original public health
                         innovation decision-making model which embraces factors thought to influence potential adopters'
                         behavior. The literature review details recent research in the areas of diffusion of innovation and women
                         in rural development, with an analysis of weaknesses and strengths. The discussion of the
                         innovation-decision-process model is featured. There is a presentation of concomitant variation
                         cross-sectional field methodology; major hypotheses are listed. Data analytical methods such as thematic
                         content analysis, structural equation modeling, ethnographic vignettes, and descriptive statistics are
                         covered. Chapter IV sets forth selected qualitative and quantitative findings. Results from structural
                         equation modeling are illustrated as are results presented in ethnographic village vignettes. Chapter V
                         presents the conclusions. Public health policy implications include the following: (1) The allocation of a
                         public health change agent is needed to educate the villagers on the need to adopt potable water supply
                         and its benefits; (2) the water supply system must be reliable; (3) there is a need for community
                         participation; (4) villagers must be trained in making simple repairs to the water system; (5) villagers must
                         be actively utilized in the dissemination of information about potable water; (6) there is a need to install
                         washing blocks in addition to public standpipes to enable the women to wash the pots and utensils in
                         clean water; (7) the problem of low literacy level must be addressed since education is needed for the
                         villagers to understand why potable water use is important; and finally, (8) an alternative to canal bathing
                         and swimming must be found.

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