An assessment of hunter specialization and corresponding attitudes toward wildlife management in Pennsylvania
[Thesis]
C. A. Miller
A. R. Graefe
The Pennsylvania State University
1997
177
Ph.D.
The Pennsylvania State University
1997
Recreation specialization was examined among a sample of Pennsylvania resident hunters having hunted in the 1992-93 hunting season. Hunters were assigned to one of seven hunting activities based on days of hunting participation in the activities. The seven types of hunting were: archery deer, rifle deer, flintlock muzzleloader deer, ruffed grouse, ring-necked pheasant, turkey, and waterfowl. A 12-page questionnaire was mailed to 1295 hunters, of which 1006 responded giving a response rate of 78%. The dimensions used to define recreation specialization were: participation, skill, lifestyle, and equipment. Twelve variables were used to calculate recreation specialization for each individual. A linear index of composite scores for each of the twelve variables was calculated to determine the hunter's degree of specialization for that activity. The first two research hypotheses for this study asked if a significant difference in degree and range of specialization existed between the seven activities. A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test was conducted to determine differences in degree of specialization for hunters in the seven activities. The one-way ANOVA was found to be significant at usd\alpha<0.001,usd indicating significant differences did exist in the degree of specialization between the seven activities. To test for difference in range of specialization Levene's Test for Homogeneity was conducted whereby each of the specialization scores were standardized by their mean. The resulting one-way ANOVA test found range of specialization to be significant at usd\alpha Two additional research hypotheses questioned whether commitment to hunting in general differed by degree of specialization and if satisfaction toward wildlife management programs also differed by degree of specialization. A Kendall's tau test conducted to determine differences in commitment toward hunting in general by degree of specialization was significant for each of the seven activities. A second Kendall's tau was conducted to determine if satisfaction with management efforts was related to degree of specialization. The results of this test indicated that degree of specialization was significant for archery, rifle, and muzzleloader deer hunters, but not for the remaining four activities.