Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data

This paper examines recreation and leisure research within the context of active living, and highlights an apparent gap between the current involvement of recreation and leisure researchers and the potential they could offer to this important and expanding area of inquiry. To illustrate this potential, I looked at two previous studies that focused on the recreational use of urban trails and reanalyzed the data from an active living perspective. In Study 1, individual, social and environmental factors helped distinguish between low, moderate, and high activity level trail uses. In Study 2, use patterns helped distinguish between health-motivated trail users and individuals using trails for recreation and other purposes, but perceptual and demographic data were similar among groups. Findings from similar studies can help inform active living research, and recreation and leisure studies can provide leadership and contributions to a transdisciplinary understanding of active living.     

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.     

Serious Leisure and Recreation Specialization: An Uneasy Marriage

A case is made to wed research on serious leisure and recreation specialization. Before such a marriage can occur, the strengths and differences of the two perspectives must be examined. In this article, four important contributions of the recreation specialization are put forward that will further our understanding of serious leisure and intense forms of leisure. These are (1) there is diversity among participants involved in the same leisure activity, (2) we can quantify recreation specialization and serious leisure, (3) there are gradations of seriousness and specialization, and (4) there are practical applications of understanding that participants vary along a specialization continuum.     

Postmodern Values and Leisure in Young Spanish University Students: An Exploratory Study

This article reports exploratory research about tendencies toward postmaterialism in university students. This paper used the theoretical framework proposed by Inglehart regarding three categories of leisure: postmaterialist, materialist and common. Students from a Spanish university (N = 1036) completed questionnaires that evaluated their materialist-postmaterialist values, how often they practiced the activities included in each category of leisure and the motivational factors involved in them. The results revealed that university students showed a tendency toward postmaterialism. Further, relationships were found between materialist-postmaterialist values and categories of leisure. This study results suggested that the tendency toward postmaterialist values may be a factor in structuring the leisure patterns of young Spanish university students.     

The Neoliberal Assault on the Public University: The Case of Recreation,Park, and Leisure Research

Public universities face critical challenges in terms of teaching, researching, and providing service. Funding mechanisms for various departments, programs, and professors have become increasingly intertwined with market-driven forces in light of neoliberal political and economic philosophies. In this essay, we illuminate neoliberalism and its multiple influences in university recreation, parks, and leisure studies departments. In noting classical theories of leisure and the deleterious aspects of neoliberalism, we encourage researchers, teachers, administrators, and students to resist these prevalent cultural trends, evoking a normative role for universities in the provision of a liberal education.     

Recreation boating spatial patterns: Theory and management

Abstract

The activity patterns of recreation boating on an intensively used small urban lake are measured. Matrix maps were used to collect data and to analyze the results. Distinct patterns were observed, with competition for space and conflict among different types of boats. A theory of reciprocal choreography is proposed to help explain the findings. Management options are proposed.     

Revisiting Family Leisure Research and Critical Reflections on the Future of Family-Centered Scholarship

ABSTRACT

In this special issue of Leisure Sciences, we examine the progress made and challenges ahead in research on leisure and families—20 years revisited. We consider what advancements have been made in family leisure research and potential new directions that family-centered scholars can look towards. We also consider the dominance of particular theoretical perspectives and methodological designs, and the limitations and consequences of such perspectives, to understand the complexities, diversity, and richness of the lived family experience. Emphasis is placed on the need for scholarship that explores diverse constructions of family and to provide a call to action for family-centered scholars to engage with broader global social issues.     

Recreation research and planning in the federal republic of Germany: A commentary

Abstract

German recreation planning is strongly oriented toward the maintenance and provision of outdoor recreation areas. The rapidly growing consumption of outdoor recreation activities within a densely populated area has led to refined procedures of evaluating landuse potential and distributing outdoor facilities within environmental constraints. One such procedure is the use of attractivity models. Such models utilize a matrix of social, aesthetic, physical, and infrastructure attributes to arrive at a ranking of attractivity for given landscapes. The rankings are the basis of general landuse decisions and outdoor recreation investment procedures.     

From Pragmatist Discussion to Pragmatist Projects in Leisure Research

Although the paradigmatic discussion has encouraged leisure scholars to critically examine their inquiry assumptions (Parry, Johnson, & Stewart, 2013 Parry, D. C., Johnson, C. W., & Stewart, W. (2013). Leisure research for social justice: A response to Henderson. Leisure Sciences, 35, 81–87.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), Henderson (2011 Henderson, K. A. (2011). Post-positivism and the pragmatics of leisure research. Leisure Sciences, 33, 341–346.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Neville (2013 Neville, R. D. (2013). The pragmatics of leisure revisited. Leisure Sciences, 35, 399–404.[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) provided critical comments from pragmatist perspectives on the dominance of the paradigmatic framework in the leisure literature. However, it remains unaddressed what it means to adopt pragmatism for leisure researchers who undertake empirical research. The purpose of this article is to offer a starting point to apply pragmatist discussion and pragmatism to empirical leisure research projects. I first describe implications of John Dewey's pragmatism for an empirical inquiry while contrasting them with ontological and epistemological concerns in the paradigmatic schema. Second, I critically reflect upon my previous leisure research project from the Deweyan perspective. I identify several research stages wherein pragmatist leisure scholars should be aware of implications of their inquiry philosophy, including research question formulation, research design and methodological choice, and research outcome report.     

Testing Competing Models of the Leisure Constraint Negotiation Process in a Corporate Employee Recreation Setting

Four models of leisure constraint negotiation (independence, buffer, mitigation, reduction) based on competing views of how constraint, negotiation, and motivation are interconnected and influence participation were tested using regression and structural equation modeling procedures. Full-time employees ( N = 186, X age = 36.7 years, 64.5 percent females) of four companies with similar work site recreation services completed a survey measuring participation in work site physical recreation activities, constraint on participation, negotiation resources, and motivation to participate. Strong support was found for the constraint - effects - mitigation model. Though constraints decreased the level of participation, they also triggered greater use of negotiation resources, which counteracted their negative effects. Stronger health and enjoyment motives also resulted in employees increasing negotiation efforts. The results support several of the constraint negotiation propositions developed by Jackson, Crawford, and Godbey (1993) and a theoretical model that clarifies the role of motivation and distinguishes between the negotiatory and facilitatory functions of negotiation resources.     

Momentarily Understanding the Contemporary Moment: Reflections on Koans,Politics, and Leisure

Abstract

A koan is a paradoxical riddle used to help practitioners of Zen Buddhism in their quest for non attachment. The idea of the koan can also be helpful as we attempt to make sense of the current social, historical and political moment. Do the events of 2018 reflect reality or reflect a temporal moment in reality? This essay ponders the meaning of attachment, letting go and taking action vis-à-vis the politics of leisure.     

国内外休闲研究扫描--兼谈建立我国休闲学科体系的设想

本文全面地介绍了国内外休闲研究的发展背景、演变历程、研究现状、相关机构和代表文献，提供了一个把握休闲研究脉络和体系的图景，并就建立适合我国国情的休闲学科研究体系提出了设想。     

Family Leisure and Leisure Service Provision: Making the Case for Including Perspectives from Practice

ABSTRACT

Research over the last 20 years has contributed to the conceptualization and theorizing about family leisure. Missing from this body of knowledge has been research that focuses on the provision of family leisure programs and services that includes the perspectives of practitioners. Also missing from this research are the perspectives of those who engage in programs and services that have been designed for or offered to families. The first purpose of this article is to, through a discussion of the literature, demonstrate the potential value of engaging recreation and leisure agencies in research that advances knowledge about how family leisure is practiced in program and service contexts. The second purpose is to identify potential areas of inquiry that not only will contribute to advancing theory about family leisure but also support practice in delivering recreation and leisure programs and services for families.     

自我民族志在旅游研究中应用评析

在后现代主义思潮的影响下,自我民族志在反思传统民族志中诞生。自我民族志凸显了自我,是一种对研究者亲身经历的文化体验展开反思性描述的质性研究方法,已经引起了国内外旅游学者关注与应用。但这些研究大都仅采用了自我民族志的方法,未对自我民族志的理论与方法展开深入的探讨。该文以此为契机,首先,在理论层面梳理了自我民族志的起源、内涵,重点阐述了自我民族志与旅游研究的逻辑联系,论述了旅游研究对自我民族志的意义。然后,在此基础上,梳理了2000—2019年71篇应用自我民族志的旅游研究论文,重点阐述旅游领域中自我民族志适用的研究情景,结合文献分析各研究情景中方法论的优势,说明方法论局限以及克服局限的策略。最后,结合已有文献阐述自我民族志如何应用于旅游研究,提炼自我民族志在旅游研究中的理论贡献,并进一步讨论旅游研究应用自我民族志的巨大空间以及对自我民族志范式的贡献。     

Normative Research in Outdoor Recreation: Progress and Prospects for Continued Development and Applications

This special issue of Leisure Sciences on Normative Research in Outdoor Recreation grew from on-going research into and theoretical development of normative approaches to social and environmental issues and problems in outdoor recreation. The nine articles included in this special issue provide insights that improve and expand out understanding of norms, their measurement, and utility.     

Weather Studies in Outdoor Recreation and Nature-Based Tourism: A Research Synthesis and Gap Analysis

ABSTRACT

The impact of weather on outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism has received increasing attention from the research community during the past ten years. This article synthesizes the results of those inquiries, categorizing their predominant themes and identifying knowledge gaps. One hundred eighty-four weather-related articles drawn from a cross-section of international journals served as the foundation for this work. The research synthesis identified three recurring themes: weather-related variables that influence outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism, the importance of geographic research context, and prevailing activity types. A gap analysis indicated an abundance of underinvestigated topics in weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism. The article concludes with recommendations for future weather-related studies in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism developed from the predominant themes uncovered in the research synthesis and research needs discovered in the gap analysis.     

Photograph Presentation Order and Range Effects in Visual-Based Outdoor Recreation Research

Visual-based research methods are commonly used to provide an empirical basis for formulating evaluative standards related to recreation use levels. Visual research methods applied in this context are subject to several potential measurement biases. This article examines two such potential biases in visual-based recreation research methods: order effect bias and range effect bias. In a lab setting, respondents evaluated recreation photographs from Rocky Mountain National Park regarding the acceptability of people at one time (PAOT). Results indicated photo presentation order and the PAOT range depicted both had an effect on photograph acceptability ratings. Potential methodological revisions to the visual-based method are discussed.