comparison of recreation participation patterns across ... - u.s. … · 2013-12-08 · 70...

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Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting Strata

less-educatedpopulations .Itwashypothesizedthatmembersofthesegroupsweremorelikelythantherestofsocietytoperceivetheirparticipationinoutdoorrecreationasbeingconstrained .Eighteenspecificconstraints,groupedintothreegeneralcategories—personal,structural,andpsychological—wereexamined .Thisstudyfocusesonperceivedconstraintstoparticipationintherespondent’sfavoriteoutdoorrecreationactivities .

Approach

DataforthisstudycamefromtheNationalSurveyonRecreationandtheEnvironment(NSRE) .TheconstraintsquestionstoNSRErespondentswereprecededbyquestionsabouttheirfavoriteoutdoorrecreationactivities .Respondentswerereadalistofreasonspeoplemightnotparticipateinfavoriteoutdooractivitiesandaskedforeachreasonifithadkeptthemfromparticipatingasoftenastheywanted .

Tostatisticallytestwhetherrespondentsineachoftheminoritygroupsfeltmore(orless)constrainedinpursuitoftheirfavoriteoutdooractivity,logisticregressionequationsweredevelopedforeachoftheconstraints .Includedineachofthesemodelswereage,householdincome,immigrantstatus,ethnicity(e .g .,Black,Hispanic,Asian/PacificIslander),gender,region(e .g .,South,Central,West),education(e .g .,lessthanhighschool,bachelor’sdegreeormore),residency(e .g .,urban),andsettingforfavoriteactivity(e .g .,winter,water,dispersed) .Astatisticallysignificantpositive(negative)coefficientonanyofthesevariablesindicatedthattheprobabilitytherespectivegroupfeltconstrainedintheirparticipationwashigherthan(lessthan)thatoftherestofsociety .

Results

Analysisrevealedthatalleighteenconstraintmodelswerestatisticallysignificant(p<0 .05)basedonlikelihoodratiotests(table5 .8) .Resultsforeachpopulationclassificationvariablearepresentedbelow .

Age—Agewasasignificantfactorinnineoftheconstraints,butofteninoppositedirections .Increasingagereducedsomeconstraints(e .g .,timeandmoney),whileincreasingageamplifiedotherconstraints(e .g .,physicallimitations,safety,andhealth) .

Generally,acrossthesevenactivitygroups,wefoundthatparticipationratesforoutdooractivitiesarevisitingrecreationsignificantlyhigheramongmales,non-HispanicWhites,youngtomiddle-agedpeople,peoplewithcollegeeducation,middletohigherincomepeople,andruralresidents .

Invited Paper

A National Study of Constraints to Participation in Outdoor Recreational Activities byGaryT .Green,J .M .Bowker,XiongfeiWang,H .KenCordell,andCassandraY .Johnson9

Introduction

AnumberofstudieshaveshownthatcertaingroupsinAmericansociety(e .g .,Blacks,women,urbandwellers)canencounterbarriersorperceivedconstraintstoparticipationinoutdoorrecreation .Earlyresearchonconstraintsfocusedonracialorgenderdifferences .Morerecentresearchhasexaminedtheeffectsofincome,education,age,andplaceofresidence(ArnoldandShinew1998) .However,despitethegrowthofresearchonconstraints,fewstudieshaveexaminedhowsocialfactors(e .g .,access,services,health)mayconstrainparticipationinoutdoorrecreation .

Thispaperextendsresearchofanearlierstudy(Johnsonandothers2001) .WhilethisstudyincludestraditionallymarginalizedgroupssuchasBlacks,women,andruraldwellers,itbroadensthefocustoincludeimmigrant,Hispanic,Asian/PacificIslander,low-incomeand

Gary T. Green

9GaryT .Green,AssociateProfessor,WarnellSchoolofForestandNaturalResources,UniversityofGeorgia,WarnellSchoolofForestResources,Athens,GA;J .M .Bowker,ResearchSocialScientist,XiongfeiWang,FormerGraduateResearchAssistant,DepartmentofStatistics,UniversityofGeorgia,Athens,GA,H .KenCordell,PioneeringSeniorScientist,andCassandraY .Johnson,ResearchSocialScientist,U .S .DepartmentofAgricultureForestService,SouthernResearchStation,Athens,GA .

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Blacks—BlacksfeltmorehinderedfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivitiesthanWhitesforthe“allofthereasons”except“havingnoonewithwhomtodoactivities .”

Asian/Pacific Islanders (API)—CrowdedactivityareaswastheonlyfactorwhereAPIfeltlessconstrainedthanWhitesfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivities .APIfeltmoreconstrainedthanWhitesforthesereasons:“don’thaveenoughtimebecauseofmyjob,”“inadequatetransportation,”“facilitiesandinformation,”“safetyproblems,”“feelunwelcomeoruncomfortable,”and“feelafraidinforests .”

Hispanics—TheresultsindicatedthatHispanicsfeltmoreconstrainedfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivitiesthanWhitesforthefollowingreasons:“notenoughtimebecauseofmyjob,”“safetyproblems,”“can’tunderstandthelanguage,”and“feelafraidinforests .”Itisimportanttonotethisstudy’sfindingsforAPIandHispanicsbecausepreviousconstraintsresearchhasfocusedonBlacksincomparisontoWhites .IncomparingtheresultsofBlacks,API,andHispanics,considerableoverlapappearstoexistintheirperceivedconstraintstorecreation .

Rural residence—Resultsbyurbanorruralresidencerevealedthaturbandwellersfeltlessconstrainedbyreasonsof“don’thaveenoughtimebecauseofmyjobandfamily”and“outdoorpest”thanruraldwellers .Urbandwellersweremorelikelytofeelconstrainedby“inadequatetransport,”“crowdedareas,”and“safetyproblems”thanwereruraldwellers .

Regions—Ineightcases(e .g .,“don’thaveenoughtime,”“healthreasons,”“noonetodoactivitieswith,”“safetyproblems,”“inadequatefacilities,”“outdoorpests,”“can’tunderstandthelanguage,”and“feelafraidinaforest”),SouthernersfeltmoreconstrainedfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivitiesthanNorthernersfelt .However,inthecaseofinadequatetransportation,SouthernersfeltlessconstrainedthanNortherners .Conversely,peoplewhoresidedintheCentralregionfeltmoreconstrainedthanNorthernersforreasonsof“don’thaveenoughmoney”and“crowdedactivityareas .”Theyfeltlessconstrainedbyreasonsof“don’thaveenoughtimebecauseoffamily,”“poorlymaintainedactivities,”“pollutionproblems,”and“outdoorpests .”Westernersfeltmoreconstrainedby“healthreasons”and“physicallylimitingcondition”thanNortherners .WesternersfeltlessconstrainedthanNorthernersforreasonsof“outdoorpests”and“can’tunderstandthelanguage .”

Gender—Generally,womenfeltmoreconstrainedfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivitiesthanmenacrossallpossiblereasons .Theexceptionwastimeconstraints,wheremenreportedfeelingmoreconstrainedthanwomen .

Immigrants—Exceptfornotunderstandingthelanguage,immigrantsfeltlessconstrainedthanpeoplebornintheUnitedStatesforthefollowingreasons:“don’thaveenoughmoney,”“inadequatetransportationandinformation,”“crowdedactivityareas,”“safetyandpollutionproblems,”“outdoorpests,”“feelunwelcomeoruncomfortable,”and“householdmemberhasdisability .”Stodolska(1998)foundthatimmigrantsoftenexperiencedconstraintsunlikethegeneralpopulace(e .g .,languagebarriers)andthatmanyconstraintswerelessimportanttoimmigrantsbecausetheynormallyworkedmoreandconsumedlessoftheirincome,whileoftenconfiningtheirleisureengagementstotheirethniccommunities .

Income—Resultsindicatedthatlowerincomehouseholdsfeltmoreconstrainedforthefollowingreasons:“don’thaveenoughmoney,”“healthreasons,”“inadequatetransportation,”“noonetodoactivitieswith,”“feelafraidinforests,”“pollutionproblems,”“outdoorpests,”“feelunwelcomeoruncomfortable,”“can’tunderstandthelanguage,”“physicallylimitingcondition,”and“householdmemberhasadisability .”Theseresultssupportpreviousstudies’findingsthatpeoplewithlowerincomesfeelmoreconstrainedthanothers .

Education—Peoplewithlessthanahighschooleducationfeltlesstimeconstrainedthanpeoplewithahighschooleducation,andlessconstrainedbyinadequateinformation .Thefactthatinadequateinformationwasnotperceivedasaconstraintbythisgroupcouldindicatethisgrouphasfoundawaytocircumnavigatethisproblem,orthattheyareusingfacilitiesandresourcesclosetohomeofwhichtheyarealreadyfullyaware .

Peoplewithlessthanahighschooleducationfeltmoreconstrainedthanpeoplewhocompletedhighschoolfromparticipatingintheirfavoriterecreationactivitiesbecauseof“inadequatetransportationandinformation,”“health,”“lackofmoney,”“feelafraidinforests,”“feelunwelcomeoruncomfortable,”“can’tunderstandthelanguage,”“physicallylimitingcondition,”and“householdmemberhasadisability .”Ingeneral,peoplewithloweducationandincomelevelsusuallyhavelowparticipationratesandoftenencountermultiplebarrierstoparticipation .

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Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting StrataTa

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Invited Paper

Latinos and Outdoor Recreation byDeborahJ .Chavez10

TheresearchreportedhereincludesanumberofstudiesconductedinsouthernCalifornia .ItwasaimedatbetterunderstandingtherecreationneedsanddesiresofLatinopopulations .Generally,thefindingsindicatethatLatinoshavemanyofthesamerecreationneedsasothergroups,suchasplacestorecreateandreasonableaccommodations .Butitalsoindicatestheyhavesomeuniquepreferences .

TheethnicandracialprofileoftheUnitedStatesisundergoingamajorshift .Inthedecadesahead,peopleofcolorwillconstituteamajorityofthepopulation(Shinewandothers2006) .Overthelast100years,fewracialorethnicgroupshavehadasgreatanimpactonthedemographyoftheUnitedStatesasLatinos(Saenz2004) .Notethat“Hispanic”isatermdevelopedbytheU .S .CensusBureau,while“Latino”isthetermusedforthispaper,unlessreferringtoCensusdata .LatinosaremeasuredbytheU .S .CensusashavingHispanicorigins(includingMexican,CentralandSouthAmerican,PuertoRican,orCubanheritages) .LatinosmaybeWhite,AfricanAmerican,orofotherraces .

ThenumberofLatinosintheUnitedStatesmorethandoubledbetween1980and2000,accountingfor40percentofthegrowthinthecountry’spopulationduringthatperiod(Saenz2004) .Whilein1900therewereapproximately500,000LatinosintheUnitedStates,todaytherearemorethan35million .In2000,peopleofMexicanoriginwerethelargestHispanicgroupintheUnitedStates,followedbyPuertoRican,Cuban,CentralAmerican,

Activity settings—Ingeneral,theactivitysettingcategory(e .g .,developed,winter,water,dispersed)hadlittleinfluenceonarespondent’sperceivedconstraints .Overall,regardlessofsetting,themostprevalentconstraintstoparticipantswere:“notenoughtimebecauseofmyjob,”“inadequatetransportation,”“safetyproblems,”“physicallylimitingcondition,”“outdoorpests,”“can’tunderstandthelanguage,”and“feelafraidofaforest .”Theleastmentionedconstraintswere“poorlymaintainedareas”and“crowdedactivityareas .”Overall,resultssupportedthehypothesesthatminorities,women,ruralresidents,lowerincomepeople,andlesseducatedpeoplehadhigherprobabilitiesoffeelingconstrainedintheirparticipation .Contrarytoexpectations,resultsalsoindicatedthatimmigrantsperceivedfewerconstraints,exceptforlanguage,thanpeoplebornintheUnitedStates .

Discussion

Publiclands,naturalresources,andrecreationalfacilitiesarethere,inpart,fortheenjoyment,benefit,andrecreationalparticipationofall .However,thisresearchhasshownthatsomesegmentsofoursocietyfeelmoreconstrainedthanothersfromparticipatinginoutdoorrecreation .Pastimagesofourparkshavefeaturedaparticulargenreofsignage,pictures,displays,facilities,programs,servicesoffered,managementpersonnel,andlanguagesspoken .Thesepastimagesmayplayalargeroleinhowpeopletodayperceivetheirfreedomorfeelingofwelcometousethoseparks .Thishistoriccontextmightpartlyexplainwhyimmigrants,whoareoftennewtothiscountry,perceivefewerconstraintstooutdoorrecreation .

End Invited Paper

Deborah Chavez

10DeborahJ .Chavez,SupervisoryResearchSocialScientist,PacificSouthwestResearchStation,U .S .DepartmentofAgricultureForestService,Riverside,CA .

comparison of recreation participation patterns across ... - u.s. … · 2013-12-08 · 70...

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