Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Exploring The Use Of Social Media Among Theme Park Guests: A Uses And Gratification Theory Approach, William J. Henderson

All Dissertations

Theme parks have provided billions of dollars to the local economies of tourist destinations (Blair & Rush, 1998; Warden, 2019). In the digital age, the theme park experience is shared with vast online audiences and so there is a need to understand how theme parks are presented on social media from the guest perspective. Specifically, it is vital to understand the uses and gratifications of social media use and content creation from guests and influencers within a theme park context.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory serves as a foundational theory for this research to understand the psychological gratifications found through …

Understanding The Traditions And Experiences Of African American Hunters, Ezekiel Adesawe

All Theses

Hunting is a significant cultural, economic, and wildlife management activity in the United States. However, African Americans remain underrepresented among hunters, with limited research to understand their perspectives and experiences. Hence, this study employed an exploratory focus group method design to profile African American hunters' real and perceived experiences, traditions, and needs. The interviews were conducted with 67 African American hunters from all regions across the country. The interview data were analyzed through thematic coding to construct key themes. Key findings from this study revealed that hunting is a strong tradition within African American communities that has been passed down …

Go Pick Me Out A Winner: Visitor Perceptions And Priorities Regarding Operational Attributes At U-Pick Farms In Western New York, Nicholas Pitas, Ya-Ling Chen

The Journal of Extension

This study seeks to identify visitor priorities for and perceptions of operational attributes at U-pick farms. Using a survey of farm visitors in the Rochester/Finger Lakes region, we applied importance-performance analysis to identify priorities, and the repositioning framework to create strategies for addressing them. Our results indicate that U-pick visitors generally perceive high levels of service quality, especially on attributes that they perceive as most important. Priorities for improvement include produce-related factors (price and availability of specific varieties) and visit logistics (information to plan a visit). Real, psychological, and associative repositioning strategies for Extension professionals and U-pick operators are discussed.

The Perfect Fit? Relationships Between Recreationist-Environment Fit, Benefit Attainment, And Place Attachment, Tristan Jilson

All Theses

Management efficacy in parks and protected areas can be assessed and improved with knowledge about park visitors’ compatibility with the setting, their ability to attain desired visitation or recreational benefits, and the development of place-based connections. Additionally, the relationships between compatibility (i.e., recreationist-environment fit), the attainment of benefits, and place-based connections such as place attachment have been perennial interests to a suite of disciplines, including landscape architecture, urban and regional planning, environmental psychology, conservation social sciences, and human-dimensions of natural resource management. Therefore, this study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional survey research design to determine the degree that the attainment of …

The Experience Of Severe Food Allergy At Residential Camp, Alexsandra Dubin

All Dissertations

Severe food allergy is an emerging issue in public, educational, and recreational spaces, as the condition rises in prevalence and severity (Capucilli et al., 2019). Nearly all camps serve children with food allergies (Schellpfeffer et al., 2020). Research focusing on documenting rates of food allergy, anaphylaxis management, and food allergy management in summer camps has been foundational to ensuring a safe experience for youth attending camp (Gonzalez-Mancebo et al., 2019; Schellpfeffer et al., 2020). However, less research has focused on the socio-emotional impacts of attending camp with a food allergy or exploring how children with food allergy experience summer camp …

Examining The Perceptions Associated With Sunday Hunting Restrictions In South Carolina, Elizabeth Piller

All Theses

Public land is an invitation for many to engage with the natural world through a variety of different activities. Sometimes these activities are mutually exclusive and can cause land use conflict, which natural resource managers must navigate. One example of this conflict is restrictions to Sunday hunting. In South Carolina, Sunday hunting is allowed on private late but banned on public Wildlife Management Area (WMA) land. This regulation remains from ‘blue laws,’ laws prohibiting certain activities on Sundays to honor the Christian Sabbath (Balestra, 2008). Blue laws are typically thought of as prohibiting alcohol, but eleven U.S. states currently have …

The Influence Of Recreation Engagement On Adolescent Health-Risk Behaviors, Krista Thomas

All Dissertations

The number of adolescents who engage in suicidality is staggering. Adolescence is a unique developmental period where engagement in health-risk behaviors is prominent. Factors influencing engagement in suicidality are vast and occur both internally and externally in the adolescent. Substance use during adolescence has shown an association with increased suicidality. Similarly, bullying, both cyberbullying and in-person bullying, have contributed to adolescent suicidality. Alternatively, recreation engagement has yielded benefits in both psychosocial and physical health for adolescents. However, limited research has identified that engaging in recreation can minimize suicidality. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore how substance use, …

Body Appreciation, Gender, Motivation, And Competitive Success In Competition Climbing, Marissa Frost

All Theses

The focus of this study was to examine the relation between the constructs of body appreciation, gender, motivation, and competitive success in competition climbers. To gather data for this study, a Qualtrics survey was created and distributed amongst the competition climbing community through USA Climbing’s Facebook page and member email list. Data was then collected from competition climbers between the ages of thirteen and sixty over 45 days in the winter of 2017. A total of 236 competition climbers participated in the survey and 202 of those responses were used in this study. Body appreciation in this study was analyzed …

Mapping The Tourism Value Chain For Fair-Trade And Tourism Handicraft Clusters In Tanzania, Peter M. Ezra

All Dissertations

The role of tourism industry as an agent to foster community development, and as a means for poverty reduction in lesser economically developed countries (LEDCs), has been widely addressed by the literature. However, critics have pointed out that tourism has failed to promote local development and improve the livelihoods of local communities in LEDCs due to unequal trading and neoliberal economic policies resulting to economic leakage. The introduction of fair-trade movements is a response to a call to redress these unequal trading and neoliberal economic policies between the Global North and Global South. Fair-trade is considered one of the ethical …

Queering The Outdoors: Lgbtq2sia+ Identity In Outdoor Recreation, Sandra Heath

All Dissertations

Objective. The purpose of this project was to learn about the lived experiences of outdoor professionals who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Two Spirited, Pansexual, Intersex, Asexual, Plus (LGBTQ2SIA+ or LGBTQ+). In this study, we are gifted with stories that delve into queer identity in the outdoors, with the understanding that not all LGBTQ+ individuals experience the outdoors in the same way. Specifically, this study considers these experiences across temporal dimension of childhood and adulthood, the defining event(s) of coming out, the role of community, and reflections on outdoor recreation professions. Methods. A critical narrative approach was used …

“You Can’T Hide Behind Being A House”: Examining The Policy Process, Design, And Implementation Of Short-Term Rental Regulations, A Case Study Of Nashville, Tn, Jamie L. Cathey

All Dissertations

Following the economic crash of 2008, the rapid expansion of platform capitalism and the recruitment of others to work for themselves using a company’s platform, has led to a ‘paradigm shift’ in which a sharing economy business model has enabled small entrepreneurial endeavors to become industry giants (Srnricek, 2017). One such platform, Airbnb, has created a new, informal tourism accommodation sector that is bringing with it questions of regulation and community impact. Airbnb regulation thus is a growing national and international trend affecting cities of all sizes and forcing policy response and change at the local government level. Current trends …

Use Of Physical Activity Monitoring Devices By Families In Rural Communities: Qualitative Approach, Iryna Sharaievska, Rebecca A. Battista, Jennifer Zwetsloot

Publications

Background: Several studies support the impact of information communication technology–based interventions to promote physical activity among youth. However, little is known on how technology can be used by the entire family to encourage healthy behavior. Previous studies showed that children and youth rely and are dependent upon the decisions and values of their caregivers when it comes to having a healthy lifestyle. Thus, the exploration of behavior and attitudes of the entire family is needed.

Objective: The study aimed to explore (1) perceptions of how the use of physical activity tracking devices (Fitbit Zip) by families in rural communities influence …

The Privilege Of Healthy Eating: A Qualitative Study Exploring The Local Food Choices Of Low-Income Families From Appalachia, Iryna Sharaievska, Stephanie West, Melissa Weddell

Publications

Using qualitative semi-structured interviews, 15 low-income women of different ages were asked to discuss their perceptions of healthy eating, local farmers’ markets, as well as their visitation of farmers’ markets. The participants were also asked to share what features of farmers’ markets they found appealing. The results showed that most of the participants had either a deep or moderate understanding of what it means to eat healthy. However, many of them also believed they could improve their own patterns of eating. The data also showed that the low-income women who took part in the study had positive attitudes overall toward …

Parent Anxiety Causes And Consequences: Perspectives From Camp Program Providers, Barry A. Garst, Ryan Gagnon, Troy Bennett

Publications

Although out-of-school time experiences such as camp contribute to youth development, youth in-volvement in these developmental experiences is largely dependent on parents who determine which activities are appropriate for their children. A contributing factor to parents’ decisions to send their child to camp is the amount of risk and non-clinical anxiety that parents associate with the camp experience, yet little attention has been paid to these issues, particularly from the perspective of camp program providers. It is unclear to what extent parent anxiety is an operational and pro-grammatic concern for camp program providers. Informed by risk perception and parent involve-ment …

Open Parks Network: Parks For The People, Christopher Vinson, Rachel Wittmann

Presentations

The Open Parks Network serves the global parks community by providing the information, tools, and solutions to support the stewardship of the natural and cultural assets of protected areas. To date, over 350,000 items and 1.5 million pages of material has been digitized as part of this project. This presentation details the project's background and strategies used for digitization and metadata creation. Additionally, the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace Donor Card Collection project is detailed. This webinar presentation was conducted as part of the LYRASIS "Second Friday" series.