DELPHI STUDY OF EXPERT ASSESSMENTS OF THE SHIFT IN VALUE PRIORITIES AMONG KAZAKHSTAN’S YOUTH: FINAL STAGE

Abstract

This article presents the final, second Delphi round of expert assessments on the characteristics of value priority formation among today’s Kazakhstani youth in the context of digitalization, globalization, and rapid social change. The results of the first comprehensive study, which also included the first stage of the expert survey, were published in the journal "Bulletin of the Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University" in 2025.

The objective of the final round of the Delphi expert survey within the framework of this comprehensive project was to verify and systematize expert assessments of the value priorities of Kazakhstani youth by determining the degree of expert consensus on key values and the structural components shaping the value trends of today’s Kazakhstani youth. The final second round of the Delphi procedure was conducted with the same panel of experts (15 experts each from 10 major metropolitan areas and cities of the Republic of Kazakhstan) using Google Forms: Astana, Almaty, Shymkent, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Uralsk, Petropavlovsk, Pavlodar, Turkestan, Karaganda, and Taraz. The total size of the expert panel was N=150.

Scientific novelty: The existing academic literature on the values of Kazakhstan’s youth is fragmented: most empirical studies are limited to specific cities, small samples, or university-based samples, and lack a unified, context-specific operationalization of key constructs such as traditionalism, self-actualization, and activism. The Delphi study formalizes and establishes agreed-upon expert definitions of key value concepts and a set of indicators.

The value of this study lies in broadening our understanding of the value structure of today’s youth amid the dynamics of contemporary sociocultural processes, thereby making a significant contribution to the theory of socialization and the axiological priorities of youth. The practical significance of the study lies in the effectiveness of the Delphi method for synthesizing interdisciplinary expert opinion and forecasting the development of youth trends.