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2005
Dr. Mark Morgan
Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
105 Natural Resources Building
University of Missouri-Columbia
Columbia, MO 65211
573-882-9525
markmorgan@missouri.edu
Abstract
This study examined some nontraditional uses of a national park. During 2003, a survey was conducted to determine the activities and motives of visitors at Cowpens National Battlefield (CNB) in South Carolina. A total of 301 visitor groups completed questionnaires (77.4 percent response rate). A majority of visitors (53 percent) had been to the park two or more times in the past 12 months. About 87 percent stayed one to two hours per visit. Slightly over 40 percent of respondents said that exercise was their primary reason for visitation and nearly 60 percent had participated in fitness activities on previous trips. In contrast, interpretation was mentioned only 18 percent of the time when visitors were asked what they “liked most” about CNB. Although fitness is not resource-dependent, it is consistent with “healthy” activities promoted at national parks. Perhaps interpretation can be used to merge exercise with education, thus broadening the base of support for public lands.
Can Interpretive Messages Change Park Visitors’ Views on Wildland Fire?
Rebecca Wiles
Grand Teton National Park
Troy E. Hall
University of Idaho
Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of differently formulated interpretive messages embedded in a 90-minute guided tour on Mesa Verde National Park visitors’ knowledge and attitudes about wildland fire. Using a Solomon four-group experimental design, 31 different groups of visitors (N=496) received affective arguments, cognitive arguments, a combination of arguments, or no persuasive argument. All persuasive programs led to significant increases (one to two points) on a five-question knowledge scale and two attitude scales, although the three treatments did not differ in their effects. Attitudes became slightly more positive about the ecological role of fire and less negative about the destructive nature of fire. A slight priming effect of the pre-test was found for one measure but there were no effects on other measures, supporting the external validity of study findings. Attitude and knowledge changes related to fire were greater for those who had weaker prior attitudes or lower prior levels of knowledge. Counter to hypotheses, the personal relevance of fire and need for cognition did not exhibit a significant relationship to knowledge gain or attitude change.
The
Voice of a Child:
Archaeological Limitations in Interpretive Stories
Bronwyn A. Jewell
School of Tourism & Leisure Management
University of Queensland
11 Salisbury Road
Ipswich Qld 4305.
Australia
Email: b.jewell@uq.edu.au
Telephone: 0011 61 7 3381 1314 (B/H)
Fax: 0015 61 7 3381 1012
Abstract
In the archaeological record, it seems children are rarely seen. If they are,
children are referred to, to explain symbolism, rituals, past lifeways, and
behavior of a society or culture rather than the past lifeways of children
and their relationship to family and society. This lack of investigation suffers
in all forms of archaeological research. However, this bias appears to be unconscious
rather than intentionally applied. Archaeology, generally, involves the nameless
and faceless rather than the individual. The archaeological signature of children
appears minimal. It is adults, or more succinctly, society that generates material
remains. This paper discusses interpretation of sites within the context of
different archaeologies, thereby providing researchers with information that
may not usually be considered when approaching interpretation of sites to visitors.
Interpretation
Research in Australia
Betty Weiler
Professor and Director
Tourism Research Unit
Monash University
Melbourne, Australia
You know you are getting old when people start asking you to write opinion
pieces, retrospectives, and “state of the art” reviews, and
I have been invited to do some or all of these things in this article.
And, while I did reach the half-century mark this year, let me begin
by saying that I have not been doing interpretation research for quite
that long, so I hope I can be forgiven if my “opinion” does
not do justice to the depth and breadth of interpretation research that
has been undertaken in Australia, particularly that which was done pre-1990.