Factors Affecting the Political Awakening of Citizens in Khok Charoen District, Lopburi Province

Abstract

The purposes of this research article were 1) to study the level of political awareness among citizens in Khok Charoen District, Lopburi Province; 2) to investigate the relationship between Suppurisadhamma 7 and the political awareness of citizens in Khok Charoen District; and 3) to studdy guidelines for promoting political awareness of citizens in Khok Charoen District based on Sappurisadhamma 7. This study was a mixed-methods research. For the quantitative research, the population consisted of 19,431 citizens aged 18 and older. The sample size was determined using Taro Yamane’s formula with a margin of error of 0.05, resulting in a minimum sample of 392. Data were collected from 395 citizens selected through multi-stage sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from 0.60 to 1.00 and a reliability coefficient of 0.857. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The qualitative research involved in-depth interviews with 20 key informants selected via purposive sampling, and the data were analyzed using content analysis. The research findings revealed that 1) the factors regarding political awareness of citizens in Khok Charoen District based on Sappurisadhamma 7 were overall at a high level (= 4.32, S.D. = 0.25), and the factors regarding political awareness were also overall at a high level (= 4.27, S.D. = 0.28); 2) Sappurisadhamma 7 showed a positive correlation with the factors of political awareness of citizens, overall at a moderate level, with statistical significance at the .01 level (r = .501); and 3) guidelines for promoting political awareness of citizens included political parties should possess clear, transparent goals and policies that prioritized the public interest; election candidates should demonstrate virtue, a public service mindset, problem-solving capabilities, and an understanding of the community; politicians should implement policies that were practically feasible; and the mass media should present information accurately, impartially, and ethically.