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Table 1 Weighted descriptive summary of the analytic sample (Nā€‰=ā€‰8, 050)

From: Motivation to learn by age, education, and literacy skills among working-age adults in the United States

Variables

Mean (standard error) or percentageb

Four items for the motivation to learn construct (1ā€‰=ā€‰not at all to 5ā€‰=ā€‰to a high extent)

Ā ā€œI like learning new thingsā€

4.21 (0.01)

Ā ā€œI like to get to the bottom of difficult thingsā€

3.98 (0.01)

Ā ā€œI like to figure out how different ideas fit togetherā€

3.80 (0.01)

Ā ā€œIf I donā€™t understand something, I look for additional information to make it clearā€

4.19 (0.01)

Age groups

Ā 25ā€“34Ā years

25.1%

Ā 35ā€“44Ā years

23.8%

Ā 45ā€“54Ā years

25.5%

Ā 55ā€“65Ā years

25.6%

Gender

Ā Women

51.5%

Ā Men

48.5%

Educational attainment

Ā College or higher

43.2%

Ā Less than college

56.9%

Literacy Levelsa

Ā Mid-high proficiency

52.3%

Ā Low proficiency

47.7%

  1. Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2012/2014/2017 Restricted Use File Data
  2. The sampling weights and replicate weights were applied
  3. The sample size and percentage were rounded to the nearest 50 and one decimal point, respectively, due to the IES data security guidelines
  4. aEstimated based on the ten sets of literacy level plausible values
  5. bDetail may not sum to totals because of rounding