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Leisure Interests and Leisure Participation of Executives from Randomly Selected Companies in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex
This study investigated leisure interests and leisure participation of executives in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The Leisure Activities Blank and a questionnaire designed to collect demographic information were administered to twenty-five randomly selected executives. Five hypotheses were tested. Four were retained; one was rejected. Gold was found to be the favorite leisure interest of the respondents. They are currently engaged in eighteen leisure interests, and indicated a desire to participate in thirty-six leisure activities at some future time. Leisure interests which the respondents participated in during their past, or are currently engaged in, appear to be those they hope to continue in the future.
The Development of a Leisure Knowledge Test
The purposes of this study were to develop an instrument to measure knowledge of leisure opportunities, and determine the reliability of the instrument. Subjects included 292 orthopedically impaired, nine to fourteen year old children. A multiple-choice format is used. The content is based on four domains. These are entertainment, games, sports, and arts and crafts. The domains are subcategorized into who, where, what, when, and cost of activities. The Kuder-Richardson formula 20 showed a reliability coefficient of .81. The Pearson, point biserial correlation was used to determine item-test correlations. Correlations below .20 were revised. Items with a difficulty level of 70 percent and above were also revised. The results indicated that the instrument had been successfully developed.
The Relationship Between Leisure and Perceived Burden of Spouse Caregivers of Persons with Alzheimer's Disease
The problem of this study was to better understand spouse caregivers' leisure involvement, experience, and barriers and their relationships with perceived burden. Thirty-six wife and 19 husband caregivers of persons with Alzheimer's disease and related disorders volunteered to participate in this study, either by mailed questionnaire or interview. Respondents were primarily female, white, with an average age of 72 years. The conclusions of the study were: (a) caregivers significantly reduce both their leisure involvement; (b) self-reported health, perceived social supports, income level, use of paid help, and leisure activity patterns are major factors associated with caregivers' leisure; and (c) leisure barriers are a significant contributor to caregivers' perceived burden. Recommendations were presented for caregivers, practitioners, and future study.
Worker-initiated violence: Prevention strategies in park and recreation departments
Workplace violence infects many organizations. This descriptive study assesses the extent to which Texas park and recreation departments institute policies and procedures for preventing worker-initiated violence. Thirty directors from local park and recreation departments were interviewed by telephone and asked to identify whether their departments used specific prevention strategies to thwart instances of worker-initiated violence. The findings reveal few prevention strategies being used and suggest a need for park and recreation managers to increase their awareness and take a more proactive approach to violence prevention.
ADA Compliance and Accessibility of Aquatic Facilities in the North Texas Area
The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which existing aquatic facilities in the North Texas metroplex complied with the 1991 Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and the proposed Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines: Recreation Facilities (ADAAG supplement). Fifty-two aquatic facilities were evaluated based on: parking lot, ticket counter, gate/entry, restroom, dressing area, drinking fountain, pathway, and pool entry method structural domains. Physical measurements and a few direct observations were recorded on the survey instrument. Surveys were then reviewed and facility scores were tabulated. No facility was found to be 100% compliant with ADAAG and the ADAAG supplement. Aquatic facilities are already struggling to catch up with the 1991 ADAAG, but when the United States Department of Justice approves the proposed ADAAG supplement, aquatic facilities will fall even further behind.
Minimum levels of physical activity and perceived quality of life.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between engaging in minimum levels of physical activity as defined by ACSM and perceived quality of life. A total of 43 college students were included in a repeated measures, quasi-experimental design research study that produced an overall retention rate of 65%, which resulted in 15 students being placed in the treatment group, and 28 students being placed in the control group. Analysis of variance with repeated measures was used to compare the quality of life mean scores over three administrations of the Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI), which resulted in no significant main effects for either the time measure or the group measure, but did produce a significant interaction effect. Post hoc analyses showed there was a significant difference between the treatment and control groups' quality of life mean scores only during the second administration of the instrument. Further analysis showed that the control group had significantly higher quality of life domain scores for six of the 16 quality of life domains. There were no significant differences between groups across any of the physiological measures. These findings did not support previous research that increasing individuals' level of physical activity will enhance their perceived quality of life. Instead, this study only provokes more questions about the connection between physical activity and perceived quality of life.
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