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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Effectiveness Of Participation In A Leisure Education Program On Knowledge Of Aspects Of Community Reintegration For Individuals Who Have Recently Sustained Spinal Cord Injuries, Stephanie Marsden May 2010

Effectiveness Of Participation In A Leisure Education Program On Knowledge Of Aspects Of Community Reintegration For Individuals Who Have Recently Sustained Spinal Cord Injuries, Stephanie Marsden

All Theses

According to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center (NSCISC), there are approximately 12,000 individuals who sustain a spinal cord injury (SCI) every year (NSCISC, 2009). The purpose of this study was to examine effectiveness of a leisure education (LE) intervention on knowledge of aspects of community reintegration for
individuals who have recently sustained spinal cord injuries. The current study documents outcomes of LE programming for individuals with SCI receiving treatment at a large rehabilitation hospital located in a large city in the southeastern United States. The
Leisure Competence Measure (LCM) was utilized to assess participant's leisure awareness and leisure …


The Process Of Outreach To Under-Served Communities By National Park Service Employees, Emily Zivot Jan 2010

The Process Of Outreach To Under-Served Communities By National Park Service Employees, Emily Zivot

All Theses

The National Park Service (NPS) has recognized a need to conduct outreach to people from communities that it recognizes as underserved. This paper offers an examination of outreach programs that were included in a 'best practices' database by the NPS. Primary data for this study came from interviews, recorded and transcribed, with two groups of experts: NPS employees who developed or conducted outreach programs and senior managers in the NPS. Unlike traditional park programming, outreach programs are designed with non-visitors in mind. Outreach programs are supported by different rationales, have different goals, employ different methods, and offer different challenges than …


An Examination Of The Night Hiking Experience In Parks And Protected Areas, John Beeco Dec 2009

An Examination Of The Night Hiking Experience In Parks And Protected Areas, John Beeco

All Theses

Many protected areas offer night programs for visitors; however, night hours have not been fully recognized as a potential resource in these areas. Night hours in protected areas could provide visitors with experiences unique to these times of the day. Also, typically low levels of visitation during night hours could provide visitors with additional or better suited opportunities to fulfill motivations and benefits sought during daytime activities. Furthermore, night hours could be used by managers to increase or temporally disperse use. The National Park Service's Natural Sounds and Natural Lightscapes programs provide a direction for the protection of this resource; …


A Comparison Of Recreation Therapy Intervention Using Nintendo Wiitm Bowling With Participation In A Tai Chi Program On Balance, Enjoyment, And Leisure Competence Of Older Adults In A Community Based Setting, Hollie Summey Dec 2009

A Comparison Of Recreation Therapy Intervention Using Nintendo Wiitm Bowling With Participation In A Tai Chi Program On Balance, Enjoyment, And Leisure Competence Of Older Adults In A Community Based Setting, Hollie Summey

All Theses

Many older adults experience a decrease in physical activity, which often leads to decreases in functioning. Older adults have been shown to have the lowest levels of physical activity for all age groups. This lack of physical activity has been shown to lead to decreases in performance of activities of daily living (ADLs), independence, quality of life, and increases in number of falls, chance of institutionalization, morbidity, and mortality. Physical activity programs in community settings help to restore or maintain physical function and lessen the level of dependence so that individuals will be able to reach the highest level of …


An Examination Of The Leave No Trace Visitor Education Program In Two Us National Park Service Units, Wade Vagias Aug 2009

An Examination Of The Leave No Trace Visitor Education Program In Two Us National Park Service Units, Wade Vagias

All Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine overnight National Park Service (NPS) backcountry visitors' behavioral intentions to comply with promoted LNT principles as well as their opinions regarding the efficacy of various LNT education delivery strategies. Leave No Trace is the most pervasive outdoor skills and ethics training program addressing human powered recreationists in existence however, empirical investigations into the efficacy and diffusion of the program have been scant to nonexistent.
The study sample was obtained by intercepting visitors at backcountry permit issuing stations in Glacier National Park (GNP) in northwest Montana and Olympic National Park (ONP) in northwest …


The Impact Of Transition Out Of Intercollegiate Athletics, Leslie Moreland-Bishop Aug 2009

The Impact Of Transition Out Of Intercollegiate Athletics, Leslie Moreland-Bishop

All Dissertations

The college years are formative in adolescents' identity development, for intercollegiate athletes, the identity is 'athlete'. The extent an athlete relates to an athletic identity may play a role in behaviors, attitudes, and ultimately the transition from athlete to non-athlete. In this study, the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, the Exhausted Eligibility Retirement Scale, and a demographic instrument were administered to student-athletes from a mid-sized public, land-grant university who had exhausted their athletic eligibility in the 2007-2008 academic year (N=53). Results indicated that athletes with a stronger athletic identity scored higher on the exhausted eligibility transition scale, suggesting the transition to …


Estimating The Private Consumption Benefits Derived From The College Football Game Experience, Anthony Dixon May 2009

Estimating The Private Consumption Benefits Derived From The College Football Game Experience, Anthony Dixon

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to estimate the private consumption benefits derived from the college football game experience and determine whether these benefits would justify the utilization of public subsidies for construction projects of university sports facilities. A systematic sampling strategy was used to collect email addresses from individuals visiting Clemson, South Carolina to participate in the Clemson University home football game experience. The study's response rate was 56.9% with a sample size of n=769. Results reveal South Carolina residents participating in the Clemson home football game experience derive $168.80 per person per game in private consumption benefits (i.e., …


Incentives And Disincentives For Day Visitors To Park And Ride Public Transportation At Acadia National Park, Frank Holly May 2009

Incentives And Disincentives For Day Visitors To Park And Ride Public Transportation At Acadia National Park, Frank Holly

All Theses

Acadia National Park, located on Maine's Mount Desert Island, attracts over 2 million visitors each year (National Park Service, 2009). To protect the park's natural resources and provide for superior visitor experiences, the National Park Service established the fare-free Island Explorer bus service in 1999 to transport visitors around the park and to surrounding destinations on Mount Desert Island. This service has seen a steady increase in annual ridership, and will further expand in the future with the completion of an off-island park-and-ride transit hub called the Acadia Gateway Center. The facility would serve as a place for day visitors …


Influence Of Overseas Travel Experiences On The Worldviews Of U.S. Backpackers, Mark Kanning Aug 2008

Influence Of Overseas Travel Experiences On The Worldviews Of U.S. Backpackers, Mark Kanning

All Dissertations

Backpacking as a type of overseas travel has become a global phenomenon represented by people of various nationalities forming a postmodern dynamic, nomadic global community of travelers influencing, and being influenced by, each other and the locales in which they visit. Typically associated with overseas budget travel, backpacking has become an important component of global travel and tourism. However, research on backpackers. from the United States have not been well represented in the travel and tourism literature. Recent publication has called for research to be conducted on backpackers originating from around the world including the United States. This dissertation addresses …


A Grounded Theory Of The Dynamic Nature Of Constraints To Leisure And Successful Coping Process, Harriet Dixon Aug 2008

A Grounded Theory Of The Dynamic Nature Of Constraints To Leisure And Successful Coping Process, Harriet Dixon

All Dissertations

This study followed the grounded theory design of Strauss and Corbin (1990, 1998) in order to generate a theoretical model that describes, explains, and predicts the dynamic nature of constraints to leisure experienced by adults who had been previously constrained from learning to swim but were successful in coping with constraints. Theoretical and convenience sampling techniques yielded a final sample size of 28, with 23 participants being female and five males. All participants in the study stated he or she was interested in learning to swim earlier in life, but were constrained, and were, at the time of the study, …


The Influence Of Electronic Word Of Mouth In An Online Travel Community On Travel Decisions: A Case Study, Irem Arsal Aug 2008

The Influence Of Electronic Word Of Mouth In An Online Travel Community On Travel Decisions: A Case Study, Irem Arsal

All Dissertations

As a result of embracing the Internet, online travel communities have become an important information source for travelers. The members of these communities communicate through postings called electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) the act of sharing information on a particular topic. Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) is informal communications among consumers regarding the usage or characteristics of goods and services on the Internet (Litvin, Goldsmith, and Pan, 2008). Furthermore, the influence of eWOM has been found to be influential on consumer purchasing behavior (Guernsey, 2000). Thus, an understanding of the potential of eWOM in online travel communities on travel decisions has implications for tourism …


Online Travel Information Search Behaviors: An Information Foraging Perspective, Evan Jordan Jul 2008

Online Travel Information Search Behaviors: An Information Foraging Perspective, Evan Jordan

All Theses

Information search has been a topic of research for a multitude of studies across
several fields, including travel and tourism. However, information search on the internet,
especially in travel and tourism, has rarely been examined. As a result, this research was
undertaken to explore travel information search behaviors on the Internet.
This thesis uses information foraging theory (Pirolli & Card, 1999) as a basis to
examine online travel information search behaviors. In addition, other established
measures of online information search (Hodkinson, Kiel, & McColl-Kennedy, 2000)
were used to supplement findings based upon information foraging theory. Groups of
students from two …


An Examination Of The Motivations Of Sporting Event Volunteers At Clemson University, Blair Schuyler Jul 2008

An Examination Of The Motivations Of Sporting Event Volunteers At Clemson University, Blair Schuyler

All Theses

In 2006, The Corporation for National and Community Service partnered with the Bureau of Labor Statistics to add a volunteer section to the Current Population Survey (CPS) that is sent out to 60,000 households each year. That year it was reported that 61.2 million people volunteered their time, effort, and labor through or for an organization. An additional 5.3 million people did volunteer work informally through helping their communities. Organizations across the world, specifically sports organizations, rely heavily on volunteers for success. Volunteers at the 2004 Summer Olympics (45,000), based off the assumption of working a full 8 hour for …


Examining Recreational Activity And Setting Characteristics, Lance Haynie May 2008

Examining Recreational Activity And Setting Characteristics, Lance Haynie

All Theses

The last 50 years have seen much research, theory development, and building of the concept of restorative environments and their associated effects on people's cognition, attention, and moods. However, much of this research has focused exclusively on setting characteristics and largely ignored the influence of activity on restorative outcomes. Thus, the purpose of this research was to explore the effects of semester-long recreational activity participation by comparing varying degrees of recreational activity and setting characteristics and their influence on mental restoration, general affective state, and perceived stress levels in college students that were enrolled in a range of multi-week physical …


Promoting Perceived Competence In Youth: Examining The Interaction Between Leaders' Facilitation Style And Youths' Autonomy Orientation, Angela Wozencroft May 2008

Promoting Perceived Competence In Youth: Examining The Interaction Between Leaders' Facilitation Style And Youths' Autonomy Orientation, Angela Wozencroft

All Dissertations

In high ropes courses, there are many different types of facilitation styles that are effective. It is unclear how the environment that is created through particular facilitation styles impacts the outcomes participants experience. The tenets of Self-Determination Theory (SDT) provide useful direction in understanding how two styles of facilitation interact with clients' personality in promoting positive outcomes such as perceived competence. The purpose of this study was to examine how the learning environment created through either an autonomy supportive or controlling facilitation style affects the perceived competence of at-risk youth participants in relation to their level of autonomy. Eighty-eight economically …


From Visit To Action: How Zoo Visitor Characteristics Influence Environmentally-Responsible Behavior, Stephanie Joseph May 2008

From Visit To Action: How Zoo Visitor Characteristics Influence Environmentally-Responsible Behavior, Stephanie Joseph

All Theses

Over the last 30 years, AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums have shifted focus from recreation to become centers of research, conservation and education. As awareness of environmental issues increases, zoos around the world have stepped up the challenge of engaging their visitors in learning experiences to enhance knowledge and awareness of conservation initiatives and eventually evoke action. Evaluation of these educational programs has also shifted from assessing whether a program works to determining for whom it works and why. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of locus of control, motivation, previous life experiences, personal interest and knowledge …


Identifying With Tourists: Examining The Emotional Solidarity Residents Of Beaufort County, South Carolina Have With Tourists In Their Community, Kyle Woosnam May 2008

Identifying With Tourists: Examining The Emotional Solidarity Residents Of Beaufort County, South Carolina Have With Tourists In Their Community, Kyle Woosnam

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT Traditionally the relationship between residents and tourists in a community is superficial in nature (Ratz, 2000). Interactions between the parties are not only transitory, unequal and unbalanced, but they are also predicated on financial exchanges (Mason, 2006), and rooted in the dichotomy of 'self' versus 'other' (Wearing & Wearing, 2001).
Within the literature, calls for research have been made to examine a potential deeper emotional relationship between residents and tourists (McIntosh, 1998; Pizam, Uriely & Reichel, 2000; Prentice, Witt, & Wydenbach, 1994; Wearing & Wearing, 2001). Applying and testing the theory of emotional solidarity (Durkheim (1995[1915]), a sequential exploratory …


A Comparison Of The Frequency Of Occurrence Of Stereotypic Behaviors Demonstrated By A Youth With Autism During Two Recreation Activities: Horseback Riding And Board Game Play, Philip Brekke May 2008

A Comparison Of The Frequency Of Occurrence Of Stereotypic Behaviors Demonstrated By A Youth With Autism During Two Recreation Activities: Horseback Riding And Board Game Play, Philip Brekke

All Theses

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study is to compare the frequency of occurrence of stereotypic behaviors demonstrated by a youth with autism during two recreation activities: horseback riding and board game play.. Stereotypic behaviors are one of the three diagnostic criteria for autism as listed in the DSM IV and can impact an individual's functional abilities by interfering with learning and daily social behaviors. This study examined the frequency of occurrence of stereotypic behaviors in two different recreation activities. Despite the increase of attention and press coverage autism has received in recent years, there still remains a multitude of questions …


Increasing Perceived Competence In Beginning Tennis Players: The Effects Of A Task Oriented Climate And Adaptive Learning Strategies, Alexander Koning May 2008

Increasing Perceived Competence In Beginning Tennis Players: The Effects Of A Task Oriented Climate And Adaptive Learning Strategies, Alexander Koning

All Theses

Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine if the use of adaptive learning strategies increases the perception of competence of students in a leisure skills tennis class. The complex motor skills of tennis negatively influence a beginning player's demonstration of competence and motivation. Player's self efficacy, goal orientation, and environment are linked to perceived competence, participation, effort, and enjoyment. Lowering functional task difficulty, use of modeling, and use of feedback should increase perceived competence of students. Trying to improve oneself (Task goal orientation) and being in a climate that encourages this (mastery motivational climate) are positively linked …


What Happens Monday?: The Impact Group Initiatives Have On Self-Appraised Problem-Solving Ability, Jessie Belter May 2008

What Happens Monday?: The Impact Group Initiatives Have On Self-Appraised Problem-Solving Ability, Jessie Belter

All Theses

Effective problem solving is an essential skill for people to possess. Effective problem-solvers have fewer troubles when dealing with their problems and adjust to society better. Effective problem-solvers take the needed steps to solving their problems (Bloom and Broder, 1950; Heppner et al., 1982). Few studies have been conducted looking at the long-term effect of programs that have problem-solving as an anticipated outcome. The few that have (Gass & Priest, 2006; Hatch & McCarthy, 2005) have not been conclusive in their results. The current study looks at the impact of group initiative involvement on problem solving using the Problem Solving …


Importance And Availability Of Content And Communication Skills Among Entry-Level Interpretive Naturalists, Jonathan Ivey Dec 2007

Importance And Availability Of Content And Communication Skills Among Entry-Level Interpretive Naturalists, Jonathan Ivey

All Theses

Interpretation seeks to help visitors to make intellectual and emotional connections between themselves and park resources through a communication process. To accomplish this goal, interpreters must be intimately knowledgeable of park resources as well as excellent communicators. The details of what types of knowledge and communication skills are most important to interpretive naturalists have not been formally documented. Likewise, little is formally known about the availability of each skill in pools of entry-level applicants for interpretive positions. This study documented the varying importance and availability of content and communication skills for entry-level interpretive naturalists, based on the perceptions of experienced …


The Enabling Potential Of Losses In Later Life: Linking Constraints To Selective Optimization With Compensation, Begum Aybar-Damali Dec 2007

The Enabling Potential Of Losses In Later Life: Linking Constraints To Selective Optimization With Compensation, Begum Aybar-Damali

All Dissertations

A substantial literature describes factors that prevent people from participating in and enjoying leisure and recreation activities. These factors have often been regarded as negative and helping individuals use strategies to maintain participation has been advised. The primary purpose of this study was to explore whether losses catalyzed selective optimization of resources. This exploratory research investigated the relationship among (1) life satisfaction, (2) change in leisure behavior, (3) life management strategies of selection, optimization, and compensation, (4) enhancement outcomes, and (5) leisure satisfaction. The participants of the study were recruited from older adults who attended activities and classes provided by …


The Traveling Quilter: An Exploration Of The Influences On Travel Behavior, Christine Drais Dec 2007

The Traveling Quilter: An Exploration Of The Influences On Travel Behavior, Christine Drais

All Theses

ABSTRACT


Quilters have been traveling to regional, national, and international symposia since the beginning of the quilt revival in the 1970's (Bonesteel Films, (Producer), 2005, The Great American Quilt Revival, UNC-TV). These events have attracted large crowds, mostly women, yet there is little data about their travel behavior (L. Brodsky, Country Heritage Tours, personal conversation October 29, 2007). In response to the lack of information on quilting travel, this research was undertaken to determine if quilting experience, skill level and level of serious leisure predict quilting travel behavior.
This thesis examines experience use history in quilting (i.e., number of years …


Toward A Model Of Intention To Perform Partnership Behaviors: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Melissa Weddell Aug 2007

Toward A Model Of Intention To Perform Partnership Behaviors: An Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Melissa Weddell

All Dissertations

The partnership phenomenon has received considerable attention as an alternative management strategy for public agencies. The current political culture of fiscal constraint and 'doing more with less' has caused a groundswell of interest in collaborative, partnering, and resource sharing arrangements (Selin & Myers, 1995). Partnership offers a process to increase involvement through democratic means and provide a viable approach for expanding the range of services offered, enhancing the opportunities of park visitors, and building a sense of community pride (Vaske, Donnelly, & LaPage, 1995). Partnerships between public agencies and corporations are rapidly becoming an accepted mechanism to generate additional park …


Visitors' Delayed Responses To Interpretive Talks And Interpreters' Expectations For Visitor Responses, Lisa Machnik May 2007

Visitors' Delayed Responses To Interpretive Talks And Interpreters' Expectations For Visitor Responses, Lisa Machnik

All Dissertations

National Park visitors' delayed responses to interpretive talks are examined and compared to professional interpreters' expectations for visitor responses to interpretive talks. The premise is that through an understanding of visitors' delayed responses, interpretive programs can be refined to further the goals of visitor learning and appreciation as well as the development of a sense of stewardship. Informal learning theory, schema theory, and constructivist learning theory provide a conceptual and theoretical framework for the research.
Visitors to nine U.S. National Parks participated in a computer-assisted telephone survey/interview eight months after attending an on-site interpretive talk (n=283, response rate 86%). Questions …


Meaningful Learning At A National Historic Site: How Interpretive Tour Message Content Affects Visitor Learning Transfer, Christine Van Winkle May 2007

Meaningful Learning At A National Historic Site: How Interpretive Tour Message Content Affects Visitor Learning Transfer, Christine Van Winkle

All Dissertations

This study examines meaningful learning transfer at a historic site. Transfer is the ability to apply knowledge to a new situation or setting and can be divided into near and far transfer. Near transfer is characterized by the ability to transfer knowledge to a similar situation, whereas far transfer is the ability to transfer knowledge to a different situation. This between-subject post-test only field experiment investigated the effect of interpretive message design on visitors' ability to transfer leaning from an interpretive audio tour at a heritage site. Interpretive messages were designed to examine the effect of message organizers (i.e. presence …


The Effects Of Group Initiatives In Collegiate Leisure Skills Courses, Ryan Hegreness May 2007

The Effects Of Group Initiatives In Collegiate Leisure Skills Courses, Ryan Hegreness

All Theses

Leisure skills classes are offered to students at Clemson University with the intent of helping students to develop new skills in various leisure-time activities. If a leisure skills class is successful, a student's sense of efficacy in that skill should be greater at the conclusion of the semester. This study attempted to determine whether leisure skills classes at Clemson University can become more effective in increasing self-efficacy through the addition of group initiatives as a part of the course curriculum. This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to examine whether there is a significant difference in general self-efficacy and leisure skills …


The Impact Of A Physical Activity Intervention On The Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Of Preadolescent Females, Katherine Hommel May 2007

The Impact Of A Physical Activity Intervention On The Physical Activity Self-Efficacy Of Preadolescent Females, Katherine Hommel

All Theses

Females often do not participate in the recommended level of physical activity on a regular basis possibly leading to both physical and psychological consequences. Reasons for lack of participation include a lack of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy theory proposes that self-efficacy is a key determinant in maintenance, adoption, and perseverance in difficult tasks. Recent literature has supported a relationship between an individual's physical activity self-efficacy and actual behaviors relating to physical activity.
The Finding Your Voice program was aimed at increasing pre-adolescent female's self-efficacy for physical activity through education and practical experience. The primary purpose of this study was to determine the …


Outdoor Recreation Use Survey Of South Carolina's Jocassee Gorges, Thomas Warren Apr 2007

Outdoor Recreation Use Survey Of South Carolina's Jocassee Gorges, Thomas Warren

All Theses

The Jocassee Gorges Natural Area is approximately 43,500 acres in size and is managed as a Wildlife Management Area by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR). The purpose of the Jocassee Gorges Outdoor Recreation Use Survey was to determine the outdoor recreation activities, participation rates, and resource uses of the Jocassee Gorges. Secondary objectives included documenting and describing the current use of on-site visitors, participation rates, and temporal and spatial distribution patterns of use. The current and past use by local residents of the Jocassee Gorges were documented. A total of 263 on-site visitors were contacted, of which …


Tao Residents' Perceptions Of Social And Cultrual Impacts Of Tourism In Lan-Yu, Taiwan, Cheng-Hsuan Hsu Dec 2006

Tao Residents' Perceptions Of Social And Cultrual Impacts Of Tourism In Lan-Yu, Taiwan, Cheng-Hsuan Hsu

All Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate residents' perceptions of the social and cultural impacts of tourism on Lan-Yu (Orchid Island). More specifically, this study examines Lan-Yu's aboriginal residents' (The Tao) perceptions of social and cultural impacts of tourism. Systematic sampling was the sampling procedure employed in this study. After the factor analysis, three underlying dimensions were found when examining Tao residents' perceptions of social and cultural impacts of tourism, and they were named: positive cultural effects, negative cultural effects, and negative social effects. The results from the multivariate analysis of variance indicated that the Tao's perceptions toward social …