level of continuous learning enabled by participation,
and other social factors presumed to motivate
participation, 2/

Characteristics of the activity may predetermine
or condition participation in the activity. These
characteristics are considered in terms of the limits
they specify. In each case we assume that the
commitment of a person to an activity is related
to the ratio between the input necessary to participate
and the rewards he perceives receiving as a result
of participation, More specifically, the input that
an individual must make in order to engage requires
time, financial resources, physical activity, and
training (in terms of skill). On the other hand,
the rewards achieved may be expressed in terms of
satisfactions derived from the activity, from status
achieved, from satisfactions derived from continuous
learning, from physical development, and other
rewards. One may consider that the less the input
required to engage in an activity, and the higher
the relative reward, the higher the participation will
be. Conversely, the greater the input required in
terms of time, money, physical activity, skill, etc.,
and the less the reward, the lower will be the level
of participation. Consider a young personof excellent
health, no physical impairments, and high vitality;
an input of physical activity would be of little cost
to him and might, in fact, contribute to his reward
system; but, since he is young and dependent
financially, an input of money might make the activity
prohibitive to him. Such considerations lead to
explanations of observed relationships. All variables
of significance cannot be measured and entered into
the analysis, but oftentimes their effect may be
inferred. That such attempted explanations lack
positive proof does not make them less useful as
hypotheses.

Outdoor activities by type are closely associated
with season and climate. Effects of climate may
be inferred by comparing participation rates by
season and region, An annual cycle will most certainly
be evident for activities affected by the weather,
such as snow skiing, or by cultural (legal) restrictions,
such as hunting.

Within a season, there will be regional differences
in participation. It is assumed that regional dif-
ferences will be relevant not only to differences
between regions in socioeconomic characteristics,
but also to availability of resources in relation to
residences to the population. Thus, within a season
the resources of two areas may be the same, in
terms of per capita unit of resource, but a more
concentrated population in one region might pre-
dispose it to less participation than a region having
the population more widely distributed over its area.

Each activity moy be considered a behavior system, subject to
analysis through use of « set of constructs. Those set forth
here are partial. For o comprehensive system, see: Charles
P. Loomis, ‘Social Systems: Essays on Their Persistence ond

Princeton, New Jersey: D, Van Nostrand Co., inc.,

1960; ond Charles P. and Zona K. Loomis, ‘’Modern Social

Theories” Princeton, New Jersey: D. Van Nostrand Co., inc.,
1961.

CULTURAL LIMITATIONS

In addition to ecological distribution, culture may
limit participation through norms for behavior which
originate in religion, color, legal restrictions, male-
female role prescriptions, and other traditions or
customs which provide a behavior pattern, For
example, hunting participation may be affected by a
religious or moral tenet respecting the taking of life,
or the freedom to engage in an activity may be
denied females but not males because of role defi-
nitions. Such cultural factors undoubtedly affect
participation. °

Organizational factors have their impact, also.
Hiking and skiing clubs provide channels for learning
and the means for status achievement, Hunting
and fishing leases make the resources available to
groups. The types of groups—families, young male
adults, older males, etc.—who engage in an activity
condition the type of facilities needed and affect
locational factors.

Seasonally, it is expected that the summer will be
the period of greatest outdoor activity for year-
round activities.

Sex differences are anticipated. It is expected that
the more physically active forms of recreation will
appeal more to the male than to the female, and that
the less active forms of outdoor recreation will
find more frequent participants among females than
males.

Age is expected to be highly associated with partici-
pation in activities. For the more physically
demanding activities, it is expected that participation
will decline with increasing age. Conversely, activ-
ities which are not physically demanding, may be
expected to maintain participation levels throughout
all age groups, except perhaps the oldest age groups.

Activities requiring space, say hunting, are expected
to show a consistent pattern of participation by degree
of urbanization. This isbasedupon place of residence.
Distance one travels to engage is a highly significant
variable but one imperfectly explored in this study.
Distance represents a time and money cost, Data
on these cost factors are available, but budgetary
considerations prohibited our exploring them fully.

Income will most likely be associated with a wide
variety of activities, whether or nor participation in
the activity requires a money expenditure. Income
reflects social class. Income by place of residence
may be nfore highly associated with participation
than income by region, for residence implies a
distance-cost factor, Expenditures in relation to
income provide a meaningful basis for assessing
costs. We analyze these by type of occasion rather
than by activity, While this may not be satisfying
to someone primarily interested, for example, in
camping, it nevertheless acknowledges that a ‘trip’?
usually involves several activities and the respondent
does not always have available the information to.
attribute expenditures to particular activities.

Since education creates interests and develops
skills, participation in some activities will be
associated with years of schooling. One would expect
that nature walks will be more highly associated with
education than is fishing, Our data on education are
presented only for those 25 years of age and over.



CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

In the planning of this study, it was assumed that
participation in a given outdoor activity is predictable
from the social and economic characteristics of the
participant. We proposed to explore these relation-
ships through examining the rates of participation,
expressed as days per person, of the population 12
years of age and over classified by age, sex, family
income, region, size of place of residence, color,
education of the population 25 years and over,
occupation of the labor force population 14 years of
age and over, health, and impairments of the
individual,

In addition, we assumed that the unfulfilled demand
for an outdoor recreation activity is reflected in
preferences for the activity, even though the person
may not participate. Consequently, we proposed to
examine the pattern of preferences for outdoor
activities as expressed by the population, both in
terms of the activities generally preferred (1st,
2d, and 3d choices combined), and preferences ex-
pressed in terms of particular outdoor occasions.
The latter are a vacation, a trip, a day’s outing, and
an occasion of only 2 to 3 hours duration. For the
summer season only, some of the socioeconomic
characteristics of the population may be examined
in relation to their preferences. Factors negatively
affecting participation also are included by asking,
for preferred activities, “Why don’t you... more
often?”

Outdoor recreation of “public” importance, that is,
which has an impact upon resources available to the
public, takes place away from the residence of the
person. This excludes all activities taking place
on the premises near his home. Since to engage in
such activities requires a “trip’? or movement,
usually by automobile, to a place to engage in the
activity, we assumed that various characteristics
of types of excursions would provide information
useful for prediction. In addition to conceptualizing
such excursions as vacations, trips, and outings, a
categorization which the Census Bureau found useful
for interviewing purposes, each of these occasions
are examined in terms of expenditures, distance
traveled, and other selected characteristics.

Some forms of outdoor recreation are not possible
unless equipment is owned or available. The survey
determined the presence or absence and use of
13 fairly common items of outdoor recreation
equipment.

Available leisure time is also likely to affect
participation in outdoor recreation, But we cannot
assume without further reservation that higher income
would make possible more leisure time. Consequently,
an estimate of leisure time available and spent on
outdoor recreation was obtained from each respondent
for the most recent weekday (‘yesterday’), for one
of the days during the last weekend, and for the last
national holiday. These sample time periods, af-

fected as they are by seasons of the year and other
factors, nevertheless provide a reasonable basis for
seeking differences among population categories in the
availability and use of leisure time outdoors.

The health and the presence or absence of physical
impairments of the person might affect the degree
of his participation in outdoor activities. These
concepts are too complex to measure definitively,
and since we were primarily interested in other
variables, we were content to accept the respondent’s
definition of these conditions. The resulting general
categories do not afford a highly refined analysis
of the relationship of health and physical impairments
to outdoor participation, but they do give a general
assessment,

The major plan of analysis, then, is to examine
outdoor recreation activities, one by one, in terms
of the socioeconomic characteristics of persons
who engage in the activities or prefer the activities.
Broadly speaking, the hypotheses herein examined
are as follows:

HYPOTHESES

Generally, there are predetermined characteristics
of the recreation activity which condition participation
in it. Various classifications of activities were
explored with the objective of establishing a basis
for analysis resting upon activity characteristics.
For example, the size of the land or water area
required for participation is one basis for classifying
activities, Various others were considered.1/ But
instead of employing such characteristics to combine
activities, it was decided to employ the activity
characteristic as a possible explanation of relation-
ships between participation and socioeconomic charac-
teristics, To systematize such an attempted explo-
ration, the following aspects of each activity were
described qualitatively: time required to engage,
monetary costs of engaging, level of physical activity
involved, level of skill required, level of prestige
or status achieved through participation, and the

“Tie Scenic Resources of the Tennessee
Valley: A Descriptive and Pictorial Inventory” Knoxville,
Tenn.: The Tennessee Valley Authority, 1938. Robert A.
McCall, ““A Study of Recreation Activity Patterns and As-
sociated Secondary Factors," a tnesis submitted in partial ful-
fillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Phil-
‘osophy in the School of Education, New York University, 1949.
Robert J. Havighurst, “The Nature and Values of Meaningful
Free-Time Activity,” in Robert W. Kleemeier (ed.), Aging and
Leisure. New York: Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 322.
Perhaps the most comprehensive attempt at clas:
ii done by J. Dumazedier in connection
study of the evolution of the forms and needs of lei-
'UNESCO Institute for Education, Bulletin No. Vill,
Stresa, 47 September 1959, pp, 14-15,

VF or example,



Those activities for which the resources to engage
are readily available to all, might be expected to
show no differences between white and nonwhite,
but one anticipates a higher white than nonwhite
participation in such activities as swimming, boating,
and attending concerts, and comparable activities.
This pattern will vary by region, In some regions
a greater equality of participation between white and
nonwhite will be exhibited than in other regions,
depending upon proximity to resources, characteristic
income levels, or other factors.

One would expect that health and participation in
outdoor activities are closely associated: the person
with better health will engage more often in outdoor
activities. No causative relationship can be assumed
on the basis of the data available, however.

Impairments are expected to impede participation
in activities which are physically demanding, but not
to impede participation in activities which are not.
In fact, persons with impairments which are limiting
may engage more heavily in ‘‘passive’’ activities
than persons not so limited,

Individuals are expected to have characteristic
outdoor recreation participation patterns which are
predictable. For example, it is expected that an
individual who frequently fishes will have an affinity
for other water-related activities. Similarlyaperson
who frequently participates in such activities as
sightseeing, driving for pleasure, and attending out-
door sports events, is expected to have an affinity
for related urban-centered outdoor activities.

TYPES OF RECREATIONISTS

What types of participation patterns should one
expect? To answer this question, Dr. Proctor
planned a factor analysis, and hypothesized that it
would show a backwoods type, a pattern centered
upon boat culture, a ‘country club to picnic ground
complex,’ and passive pursuits. Slight modification
of this scheme resulted from the factor analysis,
reported in appendix A. He develops a ‘‘score’’
reflecting participation in each activity grouping.
He then attempts to ‘predict’ this score from
30 background characteristics of the population,
thereby identifying characteristics which account
for a significant part of the variance in the activity
score. He actually does this for eight population
subgroups for each activity group, for with con-
siderable justification, he assumes that the regression
relationship will vary by region and sex (four regions
and two sex groups). Results from this work are
reported in detail in appendix A, but reference is
made to them from time to time throughout the volume.

In exploring association between participation in
each activity and other factors, our text is organized
around activities, rather than the predictor variables.
The activities, in turn, are grouped according to
the participation patterns identified through the factor
analysis. Because of infrequent participation in some,
such as sailing, mountain climbing, etc., or because
they are not typically summer activities, some
activities were not included in the factor analysis,
but they nevertheless have been grouped below with
logically related activities, The grouping is presented
in the table below:

Sum of
‘Anaval correla-
days per an
person ficients
Physically active recreation of youth:
Playing outdoor games and sports 12.71 3.07
Bicycling. . 5.17 217
Horseback riding . 1.25 1.52
Winter sports:
Ice skating 55
Sledding and tobogganing 51
Snow sl 07
Water sports:
i 6.47
2
NV
1.95 2.97
Al 1.94
419 1.91
Backwoods recreati
Camping 86 2.07
Hiking 42 2.15
Mounta 09
Hunting . 1.86
Passive outdoor pursuits:
Picnicking .. 3.53 2.85
Walking for pleasure 17.93 1.76
Nature walks... 2.07 2.40
Driving for pleasure . 20.73 2.17
Sights: 5.91
Attending outdoor sports events .... 3.75
Attending outdoor concerts, drama .. 39
Miscellaneous activities........... 57

The first column presents the total annual days
participation per person 12 years of age and over
and gives an index to the relative popularity of each
activity, when defined as we have defined them for
purposes of this study. The second column is the
sum of the correlation coefficients between the
activity and the remaining 14 activities (for which
these values are given in this table), and gives an
index of the degree to which the activity is associated
with the other activities. Thus, swimming (3.66) is
more highly associated with the other 14 activities
than any other activity, while horseback riding (1.52)
is associated least with the 14 activities. If a value
does not appear in the second column, that activity
was not included in the factor analysis. 3/

The analysis which follows, then, is organized
around these constellations of activities.

Tables upon which this analysis is based are pre-
sented in a second accompanying volume, part II.
Throughout reference will be made by table number
to this accompanying volume. In some cases data
are rearranged and presented as tables to accompany
this text.

Part II also includes a description of the survey
design and method, definitions of terms, and tables

YSee appendix A, table 3c.



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study report was developed as Project 9 of
the ORRRC Study Program under the Forecasts and
Economics Studies Group of the ORRRC Staff. Spec-
ifications for the study were prepared by the ORRRC
Staff, and the data were collected and tabulated by the
Bureau of the Census. Analyses and reports were
prepared by the ORRRC Staff. Abbott L. Ferriss
was Project Director.

At the Bureau of the Census, the work was under
the general direction of Conrad Taeuber, Assistant
Director for Demographic Fields, and was conducted
under Robert B, Pearl and Daniel B, Levine of the
Demographic Surveys Division. George E, Hall had
major responsibility for planning and supervision of
the overall survey; Lillian I, Hoffman was in charge of
data processing. Joseph Steinberg, Robert H. Hanson,
and Garrie Lossee, the Statistical Methods Division,

were responsible for sampling and quality control
aspects of the survey.

Part I, chapters 1 through 6 were prepared by Abbott
L, Ferriss; chapters 7 and 8 were preparedby Betty C,
Churchill; appendix A was the work of Charles H.
Proctor, Department of Experimental Statistics, North
Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.,anda member
of the ORRRC staff during June-August 1960, Appendix
B was prepared by Daniel B, Levine of the Census
Bureau,

The tabulation plan for the tables presented in part
1 was developed by Charles H, Proctor, and the cal-
culations for the presentation of the statistics were
prepared under the supervision of Betty C, Churchill
by Mrs. Lois E, Zazove, John T. Fuston, and Donald
L, Romine, Typing of tables and text was accomplished
by Mrs, Catherine G, Hart, Julia A, Schmidt, Lillie
A, Synan, and Mrs, Barbara Ann Kessler,



of sampling variances for some of the statistics.
Appendices B and D to part I present evidences of
the quality of the survey data.

The present analysis by no measure exhausts the
analyses of recreation behavior in America which
may be made through the wealth of data which has

been collected. It merely introduces the subject and
the data of the survey with the hope that others
will use it more fully. This may be done with the
extensive tables of part II, and with supplementary
tabulations of the original data.





Part 1—Outdoor Recreation, 1960-1961