Leisure Studies Commons^™

Trail Rail Run: 2013, Christine Oschell

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The purpose of this study was to provide the organizers of the inaugural Trail Rail Run with an understanding of their race participants and the money they spent in the local community of St. Regis. The Trail Rail Run course utilized old railroad grades from both the Northern Pacific Railroad and the Milwaukee Railroad.

Surfing Injuries Requiring First Aid In New Zealand, 2007-2012, Kevin Moran, Jonathon Webber

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

In an island nation such as New Zealand with easy access to surf beaches, surfing activities are very popular and, while generally perceived as a healthy form of outdoor recreation, they do have attendant risks. This study reports on nondrowning, surfing-related incidents that required medical first aid on beaches during five summer seasons from 2007-2012. Retrospective descriptive analysis of data from lifeguard first aid reports found that 16% (n = 1,327) of injuries were the consequence of surfing activity. More males than females were treated for surfing injuries (68% male, 31% female). Lacerations (59%) and bruising (15%) accounted for most …

Visitor Comments About Montana: 2012 Nonresident Survey, Norma Nickerson, Ashley Napier, Doris Cooley

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report provdes an analysis of comments written by nonresident visitors to Montana in 2012. Eight general themes emerged from the comments. Nonresident visitors generally love Montana. Their experiences were positive, they enjoyed the scenery, open space, the friendly people, and they want to return. Full listing of all comments are provided in the appendix.

From Fandom To Franchise: Generational Discourse Among Fans And Producers, Nicholas C. Benson

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Generational discourse surrounding fandom has been an understudied area of media studies. Using Disney's TRON franchise as a case study, this thesis looks at that discourse as it exists in two areas. The first chapter draws on interviews with several actual TRON fans and looks at how the concept of generation is imagined within the TRON fan community. The second chapter draws from promotional interviews done with TRON creator Steven Lisberger to analyze the way the concept of generation functions within the decision making practices and formation of career capital within Hollywood. Ultimately, this paper concludes that the concept of …

Revising A Summer Internship Course Using Student Evaluations, Holly B. Perry, Lynda J. Sperazza

Journal of Tourism Insights

Internships play an important role in a university curriculum because they allow students to gain practical experience and explore possible career paths. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the summer internship experience from the students’ perspective to determine whether they achieved course learning outcomes. We objectively examined the course evaluations from students who completed their summer internships within a recreation and leisure studies program. Student responses (n = 29) to the 14 self-appraisal items in their course evaluation were the central focus of data analysis. Our primary research question was, “In what KSA [knowledge, skills, attitudes] areas …

Exploring Pull Factor Influences At Campgrounds By Rv Association Members, Jill Fjelstul

Journal of Tourism Insights

Recreational vehicles (RVs) are owned and/or rented by travelers of diverse ages, traveling parties, and agendas. RVs, in most cases, will be parked at a campground during use, lending to the question of what factors influence campground selection. The current study explored pull factors specific to RV campground attributes by members of a RV association, identified the general demographics of the respective RV association, and investigated campground travel decisions by members of the RV association. Findings from the current study can assist campground owners/operators in developing effective marketing strategies for attracting RV travelers with customized products, onsite amenities, and/or services. …

Quantified Recess: Design Of An Activity For Elementary Students Involving Analyses Of Their Own Movement Data, Victor R. Lee, Joel R. Drake

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

Recess is often a time for children in school to engage recreationally in physically demanding and highly interactive activities with their peers. This paper describes a design effort to encourage fifth-grade students to examine sensitivities associated with different measures of center by having them analyze activities during recess using over the course of a week using Fitbit activity trackers and TinkerPlots data visualization software. We describe the activity structure some observed student behaviors during the activity. We also provide a descriptive account, based on video records and transcripts, of two students who engaged thoughtfully with their recess data and developed …

Physical Activity Of Park Visitors In The Sacramento-Central Valley, Jordaine Mcginnity

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The purpose of the study was to conduct a secondary analysis of the socio-demographics and physical activity levels of park users in the Sacramento-Central Valley region from the 2012 California Opinions and Attitudes Survey on Outdoor Recreation. The study was delimited to the parameters of gathering information via a telephone survey during 2012. The major conclusions indicate: a. the subjects are mostly White or Hispanic, middle-aged to senior status, married, and are part of the lowest socio-economic status, b. park visitation differs between groups as Hispanics visit more often and Non-Hispanics stay longer, and c. physical activity levels differ between …

The Effects Of Social Media On Attendees' Expectations And Perceptions Of Special Events, Samantha Buono

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

No abstract provided.

A Natural Resource Condition Assessment For Sequoia And Kings Canyon National Parks, Appendix 16 - Bats, Alice Chung-Maccoubrey

United States National Park Service: Publications

Scope of Analysis

North American bats are highly unique animals that have historically been overlooked by land managers and misunderstood by the public. Bats are unique as the only true flying mammals and due to their exceptionally long lives (5-15 years) and unusually low reproductive rates (typically one young per year) for their small size. Most North American bat species are insectivorous, serve as the primary predators of nocturnal insects, and can consume up to one-third of their weight in insects per night. Thus, bats play a role in regulating insect populations, insect-related ecological processes, and nutrient redistribution and cycling …

Expenditure Comparison Of Overseas, Canadian, And Domestic Nonresident Travelers To Montana: 2012, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report gives a comparison of overseas, Canadian and domestic visitation and spending during 2012. It includes total expenditures and average daily spending in different spending categories.

Spartan Race Visitor Study: 2013, Christine Oschell

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

The purpose of this study was to provide the organizers of the Spartan Race with an understanding of their attendees and the total money spent by those surveyed in the area (Kalispell and Whitefish). The population of interest was participants and attendees of the 2013 Spartan Race.

Lone Parents, Leisure Mobilities And The Everyday, Bernadette Quinn

Books / Book chapters

This chapter highlights the importance of the ordinary as a site for enquiring into how people make sense of their worlds. The primary intention is to highlight the spatiality of everyday leisure practices and to unravel some of the connections that link these to the occasional leisure practice of holidaying. Empirically, the study focuses on a group of female lone parents of dependent children living on low incomes in Dublin. In Ireland as elsewhere, lone parent families constitute a sizeable, growing but marginal societal group. For the women studied, leisure constituted informal, unstructured and modest activities that were stitched into …

Materialism, Personal Food Projects, And Satisfaction: A Phenomenological Study Of Urban Gardening In Portland, Oregon, Robin René Wikoff

Dissertations and Theses

Nonmarket activities such as gardening and cooking are often correlated with increased well-being and happiness. Additionally, nonmarket, casual activities such as gardening and food preparation are often internally motivated, and provide observable examples of self-concordant experiences. Self-concordance, i.e., internalized motivation, has been shown to increase satisfaction and increase efficacy of goal attainment. Further, experiential hobbies such as gardening may help individuals feel more satisfied, adopt more intrinsic life aspirations, and be less materialistic.

This study explored satisfaction, materialism, and food activities by focusing on first-person, lived experiences of eight urban gardeners in Portland Oregon who grow, prepare, and eat their …

Organized Camp And Character Development 2013, Veronica Ripp

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organized camp and character development. In particular, it looked to determine to what extent organized camp affected campers' character, including how much change in character campers' experienced in a week at camp, what aspects of character were most influenced, and what factors about camp had the most impact on campers' character. The study was multimodal in design, using the Values in Action Inventory for Youth (VIA-Youth) as a pre and posttest for quantitative analysis and camper interviews, staff interviews, and researcher observations for qualitative analysis. Seven completed VIA-Youth pre …

The Chess Players, Gerry A. Wolfson-Grande

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Originally conducted primarily as a game of war and strategy, chess has evolved to reflect historical developments in Western civilization as well as inspired literary and artistic endeavors in such a fashion as to provide comment, often as metaphor, on the human condition and our place in a cosmos influenced as frequently by chance as by order. The evolution of the game itself, particularly the promotion of a weak and relatively unimportant piece to the most powerful, at a time when a similar shift was taking place in the real world, ensured its survival as it served as an educational …

The Role Of Appearance In Perceptions Of Personal Trainers 2013., Patrick R. Boerner

Master's Theses

The field of personal training in the United States is believed to have begun in the late 1970‟s and the early 1980‟s (Brooks, 2004). Today, personal training is a healthy profession that, according to the United States Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), is expected to grow 24% (60,400 jobs) between 2010 and 2020. In comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) predicts the average growth rate for all occupations within the U.S. to be only 14% during the same ten-year span. Rapid growth within the field of personal training has brought an increased scrutiny on …

Gardens Are A Physical Manifestation Of Culture: Postmodern Public Parks Of The Twenty-First Century Will Be Built On The Infrastructure Of The Industrial Age, Steven W. Grant

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Gardens are not simply arranged trees, lawns, walkways, fountains and ponds. They are a physical expression of the values and beliefs of culture. Adapting industrial age infrastructure into public parks is a reflection of culture in the postmodern age as much as the cloister garden expressed theology in the middle-ages, the sensuous garden expressed the humanism of the Renaissance, the Baroque garden expressed autocratic power, the neo-classical garden expressed reason, and the picturesque garden expressed awe of nature. The postmodern postindustrial public park of today is being built on the infrastructure of the industrial age; it is an expression of …

Missouri National Recreational River 2012 Resource Brief, Isabel W. Ashton, Michael Prowatzke, Kara Paintner

United States National Park Service: Publications

Includes brief information on plant community monitoring, water quality monitoring, and weather and climate monitoring for the Missouri National Recreational River in the United States for 2012.

Toughness Predicts Performance In College Football, Joseph B. Rigoni

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

A premium college football player is estimated to generate over $1 million for his program, so optimal player assessment and selection are paramount. Lean body mass, back squat, and vertical jump have been the most predictive physical test scores, but such metrics typically account for less than 10% of variance in football performance. NFL scouts have tended to rely on vertical jump, 40-yard dash, and 20-yard shuttle scores, but interestingly, reliance on none of the physical tests conducted at the NFL Combine was predictive of team success; in fact, teams that relied on fewer total physical test scores tended to …