An Examination of the Political and Social Literacy of Adult Citizens in Isfahan

Introduction Literacy is a fundamental right and a springboard not only for achieving "education for all", but also for eradicating poverty and increasing participation in society. Political and social literacy is about understanding how politics and social behaviors shape our daily lives. In order to improve the political and social literacy process, it is highly important to recognize effective factors in shaping People's awareness. This study is performed to determine students' points of view concerning such factors. Responsible citizens respect others and participate in political, economic, social and cultural life. The present study aims at examining the level of political and social literacy of adult citizens participating in unofficial adults training centers in Isfahan city. Material & Methods According to the purpose of the research which was to measure the extent of social and political literacy of adults, the research method in this study is descriptive. Research population include 2572 adults (above 35 years old), who attended in instructional programs of the training centers of Isfahan's public agencies in 2011. The estimated number of sample size is 380 who were randomly selected through multistage cluster sampling method. The instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire comprising of 29 items which is designed in two political and social dimensions, with an acceptable level of reliability test (0.84), via Cronbachâs Alpha. The collected data were analyzed through one-sample T-test and ANOVA. Discussion of Results & Conclusions Findings showed that: 1) adultsâ social literacy is higher than political literacy, 2) in a significant way, the political literacy of adults is not in good shape, 3) there is a significant difference between averages of political and social literacy in terms of education of adult citizens, 4) there is a significant difference between the averages of political and social literacy in terms of sex: level of political literacy among men is higher than women, whereas social literacy is not significantly different between the sexes, 5) there is a significant difference between the averages of political and social literacy in terms of age: people older than 30 years have more social and political literacy, 6) there is a significant difference between the average of political literacy in terms of place of living but not in social literacy. In general, training centers should be considered as social and political means of de