AlphaPanel - Study on the Life Situation of Participants in Basic Education Courses

Wave 1: Attending the VHS course for the first time or for a longer period of time; attending the VHS course in spring 2009; year of the first VHS course; course start date; regular attendance of VHS courses; evaluation of the decision to attend the VHS course; involvement of other people in the decision to attend the VHS course; own decision to attend the course; advice before attending the course on the Alpha telephone, at the adult education center, at the employment agency or from another agency, no advice before attending the course; assumption of costs by the employment agency or ARGE; self-assessment of reading ability before starting the course; progress in reading; self-assessment of writing ability before starting the course; progress in writing; frequency of the course per week; regular course attendance; popularity of the course; participation fees; course fees paid by the employment agency or ARGE or by another body; awareness of the website "Ich-will-lernen. de"; current or previous use of this portal; frequency of use of the portal; learning sections currently used; tasks completed in at least one section; supervisor for portal tasks; portal use for chatting; duration of learning on the portal; knowledge of the Internet portal (e.g. through television, adult education center, etc.); main reasons for course participation (e.g. catching up on school-leaving qualifications, finding an apprenticeship, getting along better in everyday life, etc.); use of public transportation; problems with public transportation; no use of public transportation due to the reading/writing disability; use of public transportation and reading/writing problem; analogous query of other potentially problematic areas (driving a car, shopping alone, shopping in mail order or Internet shops, dealing with authorities, operating technical devices, doing banking transactions, playing computer games, sending e-mails or text messages); other problems; contact person for everyday difficulties with reading or writing (e.g. spouse, children, parents, etc.). Health: Assessment of state of health; illnesses that have hindered learning to read and write (damage caused by an accident, eye problems/ significant visual impairment, hearing impairment, dyslexia, speech impairment, other health impairment, none of the above); illness or impairment present; reduced earning capacity or severe disability; level of reduced earning capacity or severe disability; attitudes towards life: locus of control (control beliefs). Background questions on employment, education, and family: Employment situation; receipt of unemployment benefit; type of unemployment benefit; paid secondary employment; currently employed (including secondary employment); previous employment; year of last employment; working hours per week; occupation (coding according to ISCO88 and KldB 1992 (2-digit); occupation coding according to KldB 1992; occupation requires completed vocational training; occupational status; position as worker or employee; career group of civil servants; self-employed: Start of self-employment, group of self-employed persons; employment of permanent employees; number of employees; economic sector according to WZ 2003; public service/ business enterprise; number of employees in the establishment; duration of employment; fixed-term/ permanent employment contract; net income over/under 400 euros (auxiliary variable); net income over/under 1000 euros; net income over/under 400 euros; income classified; type of marginal employment; unemployment in the last 12 months; number of months of unemployment. Educational background (formal education (FED): Characteristics of own school time (enjoyed school, felt bad, liked going to school longer, found learning difficult, achieved school-leaving certificate, fear of teachers, popular with schoolmates, often absent due to illness, learned a lot of interesting things, often skipped school, none of the above); location of school; type of school; graduated from Hauptschule; graduated from Realschule; type of graduation from Gymnasium; graduated from special school; graduated from other school; attended school in the GDR: Last school attended (recoded); grade level when leaving school; completion of school; school attendance abroad: grade level when leaving school; completion of school; equivalent to German school leaving certificate; school leaving certificate; reasons for missing school leaving certificate (e.g. lessons did not meet expectations, requirements were too high, dropped out for family, financial or health reasons, etc.); year of dropping out; catching up on a school-leaving qualification; educational institution for the school-leaving qualification obtained; school-leaving qualification sought; school-leaving qualification obtained; reasons why the school-leaving qualification was not obtained (e.g. lessons did not meet expectations, requirements were too high, etc.); year in which the school or course to obtain a school-leaving qualification ended. Vocational training: Type of vocational training started at some point; vocational preparation measure can be credited to later apprenticeship; status of vocational preparation measure; completion of vocational preparation measure; start of company-based apprenticeship; status of company-based apprenticeship, completion of company-based apprenticeship; completion of first company-based apprenticeship; duration of training at vocational school; status of training; completion of training; status of training to become a master craftsman; completion of training to become a master craftsman; status of Fachhochschule studies; completion of Fachhochschule studies; status of university studies; completion of university studies; status of doctorate; completion of doctorate; status of the other training; completion of the other training; highest vocational training qualification; year of completion of the highest training qualification; highest vocational training without qualification; year of completion of the vocational training without qualification; reasons for training without qualification (e.g. training did not meet expectations, requirements were too high, etc.). Demography: sex; year of birth; month of birth; age estimated by interviewer; first language learned in childhood; German is mother tongue; German citizenship; born in Germany; age at immigration to Germany (grouped); single or multi-person household; household size; number of children up to 6 years and children and adolescents from 7 to 18 years in the household; household and family care; financial situation; marital status; living with a partner; life satisfaction. Additionally coded were: ID; wave; weighting factor wave 2 and wave 3; place of interview; age groups; problems with occupation coding; problems with sector coding; degree from special school; information on school (currently, with degree, with dropout, not at all, type of school currently attended, dropped out of school, school leaving certificate); auxiliary variable Abitur; highest school leaving certificate combined. Wave 2: Change in living situation since the first interview: Sex; year of birth; month of birth; check of data on year of birth; employment status from wave 1 still applicable/has changed; employment; paid secondary employment; receipt of transfer benefits (Hartz IV, social assistance, or housing benefit); living situation has changed; life satisfaction. Course participation: Continuation or termination of fall course; number of participants in fall course; assessment of fall course size; learning progress in fall course; assessment of learning progress in fall course by course instructor; received written confirmation of participation in course; enrolled in new reading and writing course; current participation in new course; number of participants in this new course; assessment of new course size; participant known from previous course; same course instructor as in fall course; assessment of the change of course leader; willingness to participate in the upcoming fall course; reasons for not participating in a new course (no more time for it, employment office no longer required or no longer paid for participation, course was very useful and is therefore no longer needed, course did not do what I had expected, other reasons given for non-participation); assessment of learning outcomes; participation in other VHS courses. Competence test on written language acquisition: reading competence on leo. scale; reading competence levels according to leo. scale. Short block of questions on leisure activities: Activity in various groups or clubs in the last 12 months (sports club or fitness group, social club, music or hobby group, professional association, etc.). Additionally coded were: Respondent ID; person weight wave 2, structural adjustment to wave 1; Identification number for the assignment of the puzzle booklet (wave 2); puzzle booklet return (wave 2); result of the fieldwork (wave 2) (discontinuation in the puzzle booklet); other reasons for non-participation in a new course (coded); areas in which the participants have improved (coded); topics of other VHS courses in which the respondent has participated (coded). Wave 3: Sex; year of birth; month of birth; verification of sex and year of birth data. Course participation: continuation or termination: Participation in spring 2010 course (no second interview); Participation in fall 2010 course (no second interview); participation in fall 2010 course (dropout); participation in fall 2010 course (follow-up participant); new reading and writing course taken; dropout subgroups (course participant in wave 2 but now dropout or not interviewed in wave 2 but now dropout); current participation in new course; number of participants in new course; participants known from a previous course; change of course leader; evaluation of the change of course leader; friends attending the course; reasons for non-participation (no more time for it, employment office no longer required or no longer paid for participation, course was very useful and is therefore no longer needed, course did not deliver what I had expected, no more course was offered, other reasons given for non-participation); participation in the next course in spring intended; re-entry planned at a later date. Learning outcomes related to course participation: assessment of learning outcomes in reading; self-assessment of reading ability; examples given of getting along better in everyday life and at work; things mentioned that the respondent would like to do but still has problems with reading; assessment of learning outcomes in writing; self-assessment of writing ability; examples given of getting along better in everyday life and at work; things mentioned that the respondent would like to do but still has problems with writing; assessment of learning success in various areas: in everyday life, at work, self-confidence, independence from other people's help; media use for information; voter turnout; reasons for not participating in elections. Changes in life situation: Employment status according to wave 2 still applies/has changed; employment; current employment status; change of employer; type of company (normal company or special institution); assistance in finding a job from institutions or persons (e.g. employment office, private employment agency, etc.); paid secondary employment; current job search; assistance in finding a job from institutions or persons (e.g. employment office, private employment agency, etc.); participation in vocational rehabilitation offers; type of unemployment benefit received; other changes in life situation; changes in life situation as a result of attending the course; life satisfaction; self-assessment of state of health; reduced earning capacity; severe disability; attitudes towards life: locus of control (control beliefs); single or multi-person household; private household or assisted living facility; living with partner; respondent provides for the household and the family; responsibility for money matters and finances; financial situation. Dealing with reading and writing difficulties/ action strategies: other family members with reading or writing difficulties; relative tried to learn to read or write in a course as an adult; teachers knew about reading and writing difficulties; support from teachers; people with knowledge of the reading or writing difficulties; help from other people with everyday difficulties due to reading or writing; procedure when moving house (alone to the landlord or together with someone else who can help); dealing with reading or writing difficulties in connection with signing a tenancy agreement and filling out an official form. Questions about test acceptance: Usefulness of reading and writing tests in literacy courses (such tests help me to achieve my goals, I only participate if I can trust the test administrator, I only participate if the test is not too difficult); reasons for the usefulness of a reading and writing test (a test is important for me to get a certificate, I want to find out if I have improved, the test is important for the course leader to see my knowledge, other reasons; accepted places for taking part in reading and writing tests (VHS, employment agency, at work/ in the company, elsewhere; a test can also be helpful if I make a lot of mistakes vs. I only want to take the test if I can solve most of the tasks correctly. Additionally coded: Participation type in relation to the follow-up course in spring 2010 according to BF13 from W2; respondent ID; person weight wave 3, structural adjustment to wave 1; location of the interview; various coded variables. The AlphaPanel study on the life situation of (functional) illiterates was conducted by TNS Infratest Sozialforschung on behalf of the Humboldt University of Berlin. During the survey period from November 2009 to autumn 2010, participants in literacy courses at adult education centers were surveyed in three waves of personal interviews (CAPI) on the following topics: questions on course participation, health, employment situation, educational background, vocational training, family situation; changes in life situation, learning success in connection with course participation and dealing with reading and writing difficulties. The respondents were selected by means of a complete survey.