Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1998

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Recreation and Sport Management

Major Professor

Mary Dale Blanton

Committee Members

Frank Hendrick, Pat Bietel

Abstract

This study was developed to identify participation patterns and was concerned with the population of Park and Recreation Professionals in the state of Tennessee and who were members of the Tennessee Recreation Parks Association (TRPA). The primary purpose of this study was to identify participation patterns of Park and Recreation Professionals in the state of Tennessee. The following research questions were developed in order to determine the answers: (a) In what types of recreational/leisure activities do they participate? (b) How often do they participate?, (c) When do they participate?, (d) Where do they participate?, (d) If they do not participate in recreational/leisure activities, what barriers do they face?, (e) Are certified leisure professionals (CLP’s) participating more in recreational/leisure activity than non-certified leisure professionals (NCLP’s). The Park and Recreation Professionals Leisure Participation Pattern Survey was developed from the review of literature and developed by the researcher to correspond to the research questions. The participants were given a list of 45 different recreation/leisure activities from which to select. These variables were used to identify recreational/leisure participation patterns of Park and Recreation Professionals. The population consisted of 100 randomly selected Park and Recreation Professionals. Fifty CLP’s were selected and 50 NCLP’s out of 571 potential participants. Seventy-five surveys were returned to the researcher with 45 being NCLP’s and 28 NCLP’s. The majority of the respondents were men, CLP’s, between the ages of 31-64, married with children, had a bachelors or master’s degree in Parks and Recreation and had been an administrator in the Parks and Recreation profession for 11 or more years. Most of the respondents participated in recreational/leisure activities with their family or friends. They predominately participated in their homes or place of work with the majority participating in recreational/leisure activity on both the weekdays and weekends. The most popular time for participation in recreational/leisure activity or activities were between the hours of 3 PM to 10 PM followed by the morning hours of 8 AM to 10 AM. The biggest barrier prohibiting Park and Recreation Professionals from participating was time. With the exception of walking (74%), bicycling (44%), swimming (40%), jogging/running (37%) and aerobics (32%) CLP’s and NCLP’s did not select Exercise Oriented Activities recreational/leisure activities. Walking, however, was the most popular activity over all. The most popular recreational/leisure activity in Outdoor Recreation was nature and pleasure walking (59%) and the majority of the activities in this category were selected by 30-49% of the respondents as a popular leisure time activity. Basketball was the most popular Team Sport and as a whole, Team Sports fell below 29% participation rate. Several Hobby fell into the 30 to 49% participation rate. They were gardening (41%), involvement in volunteer organizations (39%), and photography (32%). Home-Based Recreation proved to be a popular category for recreational/leisure participation. TV was the most popular activity followed by reading book/magazines and listening to music. Other Activities was the category found to be the most popular with six of the activities selected for participation by 50% or more of the respondents. The most popular recreational/leisure activities with a response rate of 50& or more by both CLP’s and NCLP’s, in order of rank, were the following: TV viewing, dining out, reading books/magazines, walking & travel/tourism/vacation, listening to music, going to movies, using a computer/internet, entertaining/visiting & nature/pleasure walks, and driving for pleasure. The following activities received a popularity rating of 30 to 49%, in order of rank: Bicycling, hiking, gardening, swimming & golf & cultural arts, camping, volunteering, jogging/running & fishing, boating, basketball, aerobics & photography & performing arts, and board games. In summary, NCLP’s participated more often in recreational/leisure activities than did CLP’s and the most popular recreational/leisure activities were not active in nature. The five most popular activities participated in by CLP’s on a daily basis were: TV, listening to music, drama, computer/Internet and reading books/magazines, and walking. For NCLP’s the most popular daily activities were: TV/dining out, reading books/magazines, computer/Internet, walking, and basketball.

Download
Files over 3MB may be slow to open. For best results, right-click and select "save as..."

Share

COinS