ABSTRACT
In this third stage of the research we aimed, firstly, to examine the issues that had emerged from the focus group discussions in more depth with larger and more diverse groups of older people through a more detailed investigation of their backgrounds and experiences of learning during their lives. Secondly, we now wanted to start moving the focus of the study to the kinds of learning that people undertake in later life and the choices they make about it and to begin to make sense of their experiences of learning. This would enable us to reconsider the model that had emerged from the focus group discussions. Accordingly, we planned to explore the backgrounds of a further sample of older people who were currently taking part in a formally organized educational course or class (‘participants’) and an additional group not currently so involved (‘non-participants’) although we acknowledged that members of the latter group might consider themselves to be learning within other types of settings or indeed learning informally in some other way. A mailed questionnaire was chosen as the most suitable instrument for data collection in that it would allow us to access a greater number of older people. Details of the sampling frame, the methods used to locate both ‘participants’ and ‘non-participants’ and the procedures adopted in the administration of the questionnaires and analysis of the data obtained are discussed in detail in the Appendix. The questions to be explored arose mainly from the issues raised in the focus groups and were designed to reflect this. It should also be noted that, in the discussion of the findings below, percentages have been rounded and so may not always total 100 per cent.
