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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 .
71
Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting Strata
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 .
72
Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting StrataTa
ble
5.8—
Sum
mar
y of
sig
nific
ant l
ikel
ihoo
d ra
tio te
st re
sults
for p
erce
ived
con
stra
ints
to fa
vorit
e ou
tdoo
r rec
reat
ion
activ
ities
Po
pula
tion
and
setti
ng fa
ctor
s
Con
stra
ints
Age
Gen
der
Imm
igra
tion
Inco
me
Low
ed
ucat
ion
B.S.
/ Gra
d Ed
ucat
ion
Blac
k
Asia
n/
Paci
fic
Isla
nder
His
pani
c
Urb
an So
uth
Cen
tral
Wes
t
Win
ter
Wat
er
Dis
pers
ed
Pers
onal
Not
eno
ugh
time
beca
use
of w
ork
an
d lo
ng h
ours
-X
X
-X
X X
-X
X X
Not
eno
ugh
time
beca
use
of fa
mily
, etc
-X
-X
-X
-X
X -X
-X
Pers
onal
hea
lth
reas
ons
X -X
-X
X -X
X
X
I hav
e a
phy
sica
lly
limiti
ng c
ondi
tion
with
out e
quip
men
t
X
-X
-X
X
-X
X
X
A m
embe
r of m
y ho
useh
old
has
a di
sabi
lity
X -X
-X
-X
X -X
X
Not
eno
ugh
mon
ey
-X
-X
-X
-X
X -X
X
Inad
equa
te
trans
porta
tion
-X
-X
-X
-X
X -X
X X
X
-X
No
one
to d
o
activ
ities
with
-X
-X
-X
-X
X
-X
Stru
ctur
al
Poor
ly m
aint
aine
d ac
tivity
are
as
-X
-X
X
-X
Inad
equa
te fa
cilit
ies
in
act
ivity
are
as
-X
-X
-X
X X
X
Cro
wde
d ac
tivity
are
as
-X
-X
-X
X
X
Pollu
tion
prob
lem
s
in a
ctiv
ity a
reas
-X
-X
-X
X
-X
X
(con
tinue
d)
73
Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting Strata
Po
pula
tion
and
setti
ng fa
ctor
s
Con
stra
ints
Age
Gen
der
Imm
igra
tion
Inco
me
Low
ed
ucat
ion
B.S.
/ Gra
d Ed
ucat
ion
Blac
k
Asia
n/
Paci
fic
Isla
nder
His
pani
c
Urb
an So
uth
Cen
tral
Wes
t
Win
ter
Wat
er
Dis
pers
ed
Inad
equa
te in
form
atio
n on
pla
ces
to d
o ac
tiviti
es
-X
-X
-X
-X
X
X
-X
I canʼt
unde
rsta
nd
lang
uage
on
sign
s or
sp
oken
at m
any
outd
oor r
ecre
atio
n ar
eas
X
X
-X
X
X
X
-X
Psychological
I am
unc
omfo
rtabl
e b/
c so
met
imes
I fe
el a
fraid
in
fore
st o
r oth
er n
atur
al
setti
ngs
X
-X
-X
X
X
X
X
X
Pers
onal
saf
ety
prob
lem
s in
act
ivity
ar
eas
X -X
-X
X
X X
X X
I fee
l unw
elco
me/
un
com
forta
ble
at m
any
outd
oor r
ecre
atio
n ar
eas
b/c
of w
ho I
am
-X
-X
X
X
X
Out
door
pes
ts, e
.g.,
mos
quito
s, c
higg
ers,
or
ticks
-X
-X
-X
X
-X
X -X
-X
Not
e: X
= s
igni
fican
t (p<
.05)
. So
urce
: USD
A Fo
rest
Ser
vice
(200
9).
App
endi
x ta
ble
5.8
(con
tinue
d)
74
Comparison of Recreation Participation Patterns Across Demographic, Region-of-Country, and Natural Setting Strata
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 .
