A Study of Prospective Teachers' Consumption Patterns on Special Days

The purpose of this study was to identify prospective teachers' consumption patterns on special days. The sample was comprised of 29 prospective teachers (22 females and 7 males) who studied Primary School Teaching in the Faculty of Education at Sakarya University during the 2014-2015 Academic Year. The study was designed as a phenomenological one, a qualitative research design. The data were collected with a semi-structured interview form, a qualitative data collection instrument. The interview form consisted of two parts. The first one contained questions as to descriptive information about the prospective teachers while the second was intended for the identification of their views on their consumption patterns on special days. The content validity of the questions was examined by three specialists, and they were revised in accordance with their recommendations. In addition, the comprehensibility of the questions was tested by five prospective teachers, and the form was finalized. The data were subject to content analysis. The results showed that the great majority of the prospective teachers (90%) considered Mother's Day, Father's Day, Valentine's Day and birthdays to be special days. Furthermore, 69% of them regarded shopping on special days as meaningful.