Roles of Sangha Administrators in Public Welfare in Chonburi Province: a Case Study of Abbots' Roles during COVID 19 Pandemic

Abstract

  This research aimed 1) to study and 2) to compare roles of Sangha Administrators in public welfares in Chonburi province: a case study of abbots' roles during COVID 19 pandemic, classified into districts. This research was a quantitative study. The sample consisted of 189 Sangha Administrators at the abbot level under the Great Buddhist Sect (Mahanikaya) from various districts of Chonburi province, selected by a multi-stage random sampling. The first stage involved with stratified random sampling, followed by simple random sampling using drawing lots. The tools included a questionnaire with a 5- point Likert scale, at discriminant validity values ranging from .282 to .691. The reliability was .946. Data analysis was conducted by calculating the mean, standard deviation, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and pairwise comparison tests using LSD and Tamhane methods. The findings have found as follows:
1. The roles of Sangha administrators in public welfares, Chonburi province: a case study of abbots' roles during COVID 19 pandemic, were generally at a moderate level. Considering with items, ranked from the highest to lowest aspect, the top 3 roles namely assisting the general people, conducting activities to assist the public, and helping with other people’s activities for the public benefits. The lowest-ranked role was aiding with public properties.
2. The comparison of Sangha administrator roles in public welfares, Chonburi province: a case study of abbots' roles during COVID 19 pandemic showed statistically significant differences at the .05 significance level. Considering with items, it found that each item was significantly different at the .05 significant level.