Studies in Outdoor Recreation

Cover

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Title Page/Copyright

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Contents

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pp. viii-x

Preface to the Third Edition

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pp. xi-xii

This book is a study of the social science research in outdoor recreation — the use of parks and related areas and the characteristics, attitudes, and behavior of people who visit them. A large number of theoretical and empirical studies in outdoor recreation have been conducted over the past several decades, but these studies have been highly diverse in disciplinary approach and methods, and widely dispersed over ...

1. Search and Research for Satisfaction An Introduction to Outdoor Recreation Research

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pp. 1-21

An early paper in the outdoor recreation literature challenged researchers to demonstrate and strengthen the scholarly significance and practical implications of their studies. Pointedly titled “Recreation Research—So What?”, this paper called upon the research community to build a body of knowledge that would enhance our understanding of outdoor recreation and contribute to solving a variety of ...

2. Social Aspects of Outdoor Recreation Use and Users

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pp. 22-58

Information on recreation use and users was recognized early as potentially important for a number of reasons (e.g., Bury 1964). Even relatively simple data from campground registration forms, such as size of camping groups, can be useful to campground planners and designers. Several early studies suggested ways in which information on recreation use and the characteristics of users can and should ...

3. Descriptive Aspects of Outdoor Recreation Attitudes, Preferences, Perceptions

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pp. 59-80

The attitudes and preferences of visitors were an early—and have been a continuing— focus of research. Recognition of recreation as social behavior led naturally to the notion that information on visitor attitudes and preferences for facilities and services would be desirable in guiding recreation management. Research in this area was further stimulated by the suggestion that the attitudes and preferences of visitors may differ in substantive ways from how they are perceived by managers. ...

4. Carrying Capacity Protecting Recreation Resources and the Visitor Experience

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pp. 81-97

Rapidly expanding recreation in the post-World War II period gave rise to concerns over appropriate use levels of outdoor recreation areas. While interest in the impacts of recreation on the natural resource base predominated, there was also emerging attention on the effects of increased use on the quality of the recreation experience. The early descriptive studies described in the preceding chapters prompted theorists ...

5. Crowding in Outdoor Recreation Use Level, Perceived Crowding,and Visitor Satisfaction

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pp. 98-136

This chapter examines a large genre of research concerned with crowding in outdoor recreation. There is a relatively long history of concern over the effects of increasing use on the quality of the recreation experience, beginning even before the post-World War II boom in recreation participation (e.g., J. Adams 1930, A. Leopold 1934). Shortly after the beginning of the period of rapidly expanding outdoor recreation ...

6. Indicators and Standards of Quality A Normative Approach

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pp. 137-165

Chapter 4 described the way in which indicators and standards of quality have emerged as a central focus of contemporary carrying capacity frameworks and of management of outdoor recreation more broadly. Indicators of quality are measurable, manageable variables that help define the quality of the recreation experience. Standards of quality define the minimum acceptable condition of ...

7. Motivations and Benefits in Outdoor Recreation A Behavioral Approach

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pp. 166-189

Early empirical research in outdoor recreation, as in all emerging areas of study, was primarily descriptive, focusing on the activities and socioeconomic and cultural characteristics of users, and their attitudes and preferences about management. But even as this descriptive foundation of information was being built, there were early signs of a deeper, more analytical interest, specifically the question of why people ...

8. The Recreation Opportunity Spectrum Designs for Diversity

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pp. 190-205

The discussion of quality in outdoor recreation in Chapter 1 noted that many studies have documented diverse tastes in outdoor recreation, and that a corresponding diversity of opportunities is warranted. Designing diversity into outdoor recreation requires a systems-oriented approach to planning and management. It would be difficult for a single recreation area, regardless of size, to provide a full spectrum of ...

9. Recreation Conflict Goal Interference and Social Values

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pp. 206-219

Early descriptive studies of outdoor recreation often found substantial conflict among participants in different recreation activities. Canoeists in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota, for example, were found to be relatively tolerant of meeting other canoeists, but to dislike meeting motorboaters (Lucas 1964b, c). Similarly, visitors to several Western wilderness areas were found to be more tolerant ...

10. Substitutability: Alternative Recreation Opportunities

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pp. 233-249

The issue of substitutability—the extent to which one recreation activity might be a satisfactory substitute for another—has intrigued recreation researchers and managers for a long time. Early interest focused on the similarities of selected leisure and recreation activities and identification of groups of activities that seemed to be related. This early interest was primarily academic and was related to the issue of ...

11. Specialization in Recreation Experience and Related Concepts

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pp. 237-255

Experience in recreation—measured through frequency of participation, years of participation, or a variety of other ways—has been a focus of early and continuing research, driven by the notion that experience may be an important variable or concept for differentiating among recreationists. A recreationist who is a beginner or novice may have little knowledge of the recreation activity undertaken and ...

12. Outdoor Recreation Places Emotional and Symbolic Meanings

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pp. 256-272

Over the past two decades, the study of place—termed place attachment, sense of place, and place bonding—has received considerable attention among recreation managers and researchers. Early interest emerged as an alternative to the conventional conceptual approach to outdoor recreation, which suggests that managers can help visitors fulfill selected motivations for outdoor recreation by providing for ...

13. Managing Outdoor Recreation Alternative Management Practices

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pp. 273-321

The preceding chapters have explored a variety of issues in outdoor recreation. The underlying purpose of the studies reviewed has been to gain a better understanding of these issues with the ultimate goal of enhancing the quality of outdoor recreation opportunities and experiences. These studies suggest that management of outdoor recreation is needed. ...

14. Principles and Practices of Outdoor Recreation Knowledge into Action

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pp. 322-344

At the beginning of this book, it was suggested that management implications of outdoor recreation research become evident after the findings from a number of studies have been reviewed, synthesized, and integrated. The purpose of this final chapter is to examine the body of knowledge presented in the book and to develop a series of management implications based on this knowledge. This task is approached ...

Appendix A: Tables 6-1 and 6-2

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pp. 345-381

Appendix B: Notes on Sources: A Guide to the Social Science Literature in Outdoor Recreation

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pp. 382-392

Bibliography

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pp. 393-463

Index

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pp. 464-468