The 1997 Leisure Research Symposium

Parks & Recreation, May, 1998 by John Hultsman, M. Deborah Bialeschki, Asuncion T. Suren

Seven papers were presented on the topic of leisure and disabilities. These papers covered a broad spectrum of both disabling conditions and persons with disabilities. The latter ranged from a study of the effects of a leisure education program on youth with mental retardation (Dattilo & Hoge) to the leisure constraints of families affected by Alzheimer's disease (Hubley & Singleton).

Leisure, ethics, and values were considered by four presenters at the Symposium. Sylvester discussed the labor theories of value of John Locke and Karl Marx in the context of their implications for a jobless future. McLean developed the relevance of applied ethics to both leisure study and recreation practice.

Three presentations focused on the topic of evaluation and leisure. Schneider and Lankford considered advances in attitude assessment in the context of the Tourism Impact Assessment Scale. Another instrument reviewed was the USDA Forest Service Customer Service Questionnaire for Forest Recreation (Absher).

The growing concern for at-risk youth was reflected by the collection of eight presentations on leisure and youth. Baker and Witt reported on a qualitative study of the multiple meanings various stakeholder groups attribute to the quality of after-school programs. In a study that addressed gender as well as youth concerns, Autry looked at the responses to experiential activities of girls at risk.

The session on leisure, communication, and interpretive services provided a forum for six presenters to develop the themes of imparting and sharing information to and among visitors of parks and recreation areas. Silverman presented on the content and functions of talk by adult visitor pairs in museums. Stokowski, Bajc and Absher focused on information relationships and networks in forest recreation.

Five presentations focused on the theme of constraints to leisure. Allan and Mannell considered the relationships between leisure constraints, constraint negotiation, motivation, and participation in a corporate wellness setting, while Shinew and Arnold developed the relationship of gender, race, and income to constraints of leisure participation in an urban park setting.

Curricular issues and leisure was the focus of three presentations. Straube and Ashcraft looked at the influences of co-curricular experiences in a recreation and management curriculum. Wilson and McGuire presented on how team-teaching and team-learning can contribute to a holistic approach to undergraduate education.

There were three presentations grouped under the theme of tourism. Frater considered the perceptions of residents of Jamaica to tourism in that country, while Wang assessed the tourism industry's perception of government participation in tourism development.

Poster Session

The poster session was very successful this year, with 19 posters displayed for two hours in the Exhibit Hall. The goal of the poster session was to add another venue for presenting research findings in addition to the traditional limited verbal presentations. The papers were reviewed by the same criteria and process but were then selected for display in the poster session. The intent of this session was to provide broader exposure to the research--especially for practitioners--by encouraging people to walk through the display and discuss with the researchers, on a one-to-one basis, the results and implications of the studies. The posters featured a broad range of topics, methodologies, perspectives, and practical applications.