From a research point of view, it is difficult to find the low-literate population. Even when some people can be identified, this study has confirmed the transient or mobile nature of a considerable portion of the population. In addition, there are all the fears, anxieties, shame and embarrassment which have to be considered. The sensitivity of program coordinators in “not pushing the request” (for an interview), the "no shows" at interviews, the "drifting away" from the same, and repeated telephone calls and call-backs are all testimony to some of the difficulties.

Even among those who came to be interviewed there was fear. Two very different men in their 30s who lived in different parts of the province, volunteered to the writer at the end of the interview that they had been afraid. One said: I was really nervous about coming here. I've never had a literacy interview before." (He was a withdrawal for this study, but currently participating in a program.) The other one said: "That wasn't so bad; when I came in here my knees were shaking." (This man was a nonparticipant.) Although interviewees knew their referrer, they did not know the writer. It took considerable courage and self-management for many of them to volunteer for and keep their interview appointments. Some were more obviously nervous than others. Some wanted to get all their bad experiences with school off their chests first, before other topics could be introduced. It is because of those experiences and reasons that different types of research approaches are needed for this population. In any case, it seems likely that there will always be a percentage of the population that will elude researchers completely.

RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS

Research implications which can be drawn from this project are:

1. The need for a continuing and improved Canadian research base to examine a whole range of issues related to the adult low-literate population.
2. Studies pertinent to British Columbia in particular need to be conducted if there is a serious intent to know more about whom provincial programs are trying to serve.
   Some replication of U.S. research studies should be tried to compare their results with B.C. settings, for it is clear that socio-economic variables vary according to geographic and cultural conditions and thus affect results.
3. The more usual paradigms may not be applicable to this target population. In depth, qualitative kinds of work could be more useful. (Compare Fingeret, 1983; and Heath, 1980.)