Development and Initial Validation of the Nonparticipation in Nonformal Education Questionnaire

Abstract

Nonformal adult education (NFE) provides adults with the opportunity to obtain competences needed to adapt to today’s changing job market. Despite the well-documented positive effects of NFE, there remains a lack of valid research instruments to assess factors of nonparticipation. Specifically, defining the perspectives of social groups with the highest incidence of barriers and the lowest level of participation in NFE has not been a primary research goal. This study describes the development and initial validation of a novel research tool entitled the Nonparticipation in Nonformal Education Questionnaire (NP-NFE-Q). The analysis covers the use of the NP-NFE-Q on a representative sample of the adult population ( n = 878) as well as three additional cohorts: low-educated workers ( n = 227), persons caring for children under the age of three ( n = 227), and retired persons ( n = 232). The results consistently support the validation of a correlated five-factor model, which includes two situational, one institutional and two dispositional factors.

Impact of COVID‐19 on participation and barriers in nonformal adult education in the Czech Republic

“…Questions on information about participation in nonformal adult education and other types of education were included. A battery of 29 scale items covering different barriers to participation in nonformal adult education was also included (Kočvarová et al, 2022); and other items not used in the present study. In all phases of the survey process, emphasis was placed on the ethical principles of research, especially anonymity respecting the ICC/ESOMAR International Code (ESOMAR, 2016).…”