Abstract
This study used Darkenwald and Valentine's (1985) Deterrents to Participation Scale (DPS-G) to (a) validate the instrument with a different population and (b) investigate the reasons Air Force enlisted personnel at two bases did not participate in voluntary, off-duty education. Sample size was 966, with an adjusted response rate of 71.5%. Survey responses were compared to responses from prior use of the survey and expectations from the literature. Eight deterrent factors were identified. Analysis of variance revealed relationships between demographic variables and the factors from the literature. The investigators concluded that (a) the instrument, used on a different population, measured the same deterrents previously found and (b) the eight factor structure further developed the six factor structures in prior studies.
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