Leisure Studies Commons^™

Walking Off-Trail In National Parks: Monkey See Monkey Do, Edmund Goh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This study extended the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to embrace the pro-environmental construct in predicting visitor off-trail behavioral intentions at national parks. Quantitative questionnaire items were developed through an elicitation study and empirically tested among 325 respondents. Empirical results revealed overall predictive variance of 21.7 percent (R²) in predicting visitor off-trail intentions. Behavioral beliefs predicted most of behavioral intentions followed by normative beliefs. The contribution of control beliefs and pro-environmental values had the weakest predictive power. Among the behavioral beliefs, visitors had the strongest belief that walking off the trails would lead to a shorter route. Friends …

Injury Surveillance In Community Cricket And The Exploration Of Insurance Claims Systems, Geordie Mcleod

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aims of this industry funded PhD thesis were 1) To understand the injury causes, trends and burden in community cricket and 2) To examine the Cricket Australia National Club Risk Protection Program (NCRPP) insurance scheme for suitability as an injury surveillance tool for community cricket.

This thesis sought to identify and understand the injury profile of community cricketers through existing literature and injury datasets, being, Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit (VISU) hospital data, Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and NCRPP insurance claims data. This thesis also undertook a novel assessment of data validity and completeness from various sources, against industry standards …

In The Name Of Profit: Canada’S Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve As Economic Development And Colonial Placemaking, Richard M. Hutchings, Marina La Salle

Landscapes: the Journal of the International Centre for Landscape and Language

Taking a critical heritage approach to late modern naming and placemaking, we discuss how the power to name reflects the power to control people, their land, their past, and ultimately their future. Our case study is the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Reserve (MABR), a recently invented place on Vancouver Island, located in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Through analysis of representations and landscape, we explore MABR as state-sanctioned branding, where a dehumanized nature is packaged for and marketed to wealthy ecotourists. Greenwashed by a feel-good “sustainability” discourse, MABR constitutes colonial placemaking and economic development, representing no break with past practices.

A Profile Of Game Style, Physical, Technical And Tactical Skills, And The Pathways That Underpin Expertise In Australian Youth Soccer Players, Bradley Scott Keller

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The attainment of expertise has been the focus of research in many domains including music, chess and sport. This research has progressed with many theories detailing the best way to develop expertise and nurture talent in sport. Soccer is a multifaceted sport which requires a number of physical, technical and tactical skills to be successful, making it difficult to achieve expertise. Although Australia’s performance on the international stage is improving, there is a lack of evidence to inform the most effective development pathways to support the next wave of talented youth soccer players. Therefore, the aim of the thesis was …

Teacher Education And Experiential Learning: A Visual Ethnography, Maureen F. Legge, Wayne Smith

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: This article reports research that critically examined our teacher education outdoor education pedagogy. The purpose was to use visual ethnography to critique our teaching over twenty years of annual five-day bush-based residential camps. The bush camps were situated in an outdoor education programme contributing to a four-year undergraduate teacher education Bachelor of Physical Education in Aotearoa New Zealand. The research method involved photo-elicitation of selected photographs representing students’ experiences and our practices. We each wrote about the photographs using introspection and recall to create a layered narrative analysis reflecting on the educative focus of the images. We responded to …

Transitioning Into Parenthood : Family Leisure And Heterosexual Couples In New Zealand, David Lamb

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The key research question on which this study was based concerned the transition period from first time pregnancy through to first time parenthood for heterosexual couples in Christchurch, New Zealand. The particular focus on this study was on how this transition impacted upon access, opportunity and experiences of family leisure. As a result this study can claim to be longitudinal as it follows a number of couples from the stage of pregnancy into early parenthood. A number of subsidiary questions were developed to explore the different dimensions of the key research question in terms of: the impact of gender; the …

From Canter To Cantor: Negotiating Constraints, And The Perceptions Of Elitism In Serious Leisure Pursuits : The Experiences Of A High Performing Athlete And Artist, Lorraine O'Neill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Everyone experiences leisure differently but, for people who excel in a chosen field, a hobby can become a serious goal-oriented leisure pursuit. Many talented people, however, fail to reach their leisure goals due to constraints. This study explored individual life experiences of serious leisure participants. It focused on the lived experiences of individual event [horse] riders and opera singers who successfully negotiated their constraints, enabling them to reach their high performance goals.

The purpose of this study was to explore positive personal strategies that individuals used to negotiate constraints in serious leisure. This was done by exploring intrapersonal, interpersonal and …

Leisure Participation For School-Aged Children With Down Syndrome, Alinta Oates

Theses : Honours

Background. A review of existing literature is necessary to determine the future directions required in research exploring friendships and leisure for school-aged children with Down syndrome. Purpose. This review examines research published in peer-reviewed journals describing participation in friendships and leisure for school-aged children with Down syndrome. The review is guided by the theoretical framework of the World Health Organisation's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF ). Methods. Electronic searches of PubMed, PsychInfo, CINAHL, SportsDiscus and ERIC were conducted using the key terms Down syndrome, leisure and friendships. Keywords identified while using the ICF framework to explore factors …

The Impact Of Leisure-Sport Facility Design On Customer Satisfaction, Alvin Y. Lee

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Marketing, retailing, organizational behavior and consumer behavior textbooks often mention the effects of servicescape atmospherics, physical design and decor elements on facility users. Service managers also recognize it as being an important aspect of their businesses. Yet, in marketing, there is surprisingly little research that is based on theoretical models which predict customer reactions to the different elements in the servicescape. Even less has been done to explore the effects of servicescape elements on customer satisfaction and behavioral intentions. This thesis focuses on selected aspects of Bitner's (1992) servicescape framework and explores the effects of layout. accessibility, aesthetics, electronic equipment, …

Leisure Patterns, Constraints And Socio-Demographic Characteristics Of Korean Immigrants In Western Australia, Sooyoung S. Tcha

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated the patterns of and constraints to leisure participation of Korean immigrants in Western Australia. The socioeconomic and demographic attributes of Korean immigrants were examined using descriptive statistical methods and their effects on leisure participation were rigorously analysed using quantitative techniques, based on data that were collected from Korean immigrants in Western Australia. The study showed that Korean immigrants participated in more passive leisure activities such as home-based ones. Participation in more active or western style leisure activities especially sports was found to be considerably low. The study also looked at which variables could explain the change in …

Recreation Benefits: The Benefit-Based Approach To Recreation Planning; Why Wellness; Personal/Social Relationships And Wellness, Elery Hamilton Smith

Research outputs pre 2011

The identification and measurement of the benefits which result from leisure and recreation is currently a major concern of both recreation researchers and recreation managers. It has always been assumed that recreation is beneficial; in fact, part of the basic ideology of recreation is that recreational activity is 'bad' for somebody and has also diverted attention from the very important task of developing a critical and valid understanding of what benefits actually result and how they are generated...