Day hiker preparedness: assessing the roles of past experience, safety messages & knowledge of safety practices

Scheunemann, Jarrod

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/26030 Copy

Description

Title

Day hiker preparedness: assessing the roles of past experience, safety messages & knowledge of safety practices

Author(s)

Scheunemann, Jarrod

Issue Date

2011-08-25T22:09:53Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

McDonald, Cary

Department of Study

Recreation, Sport and Tourism

Discipline

Recreation, Sport, and Tourism

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Grand Canyon National Park
• The Theory of Planned Behavior
• Safety Preparedness
• Day Hiking

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to take into consideration the factors that lead to safety preparedness behaviors of day hikers in the Grand Canyon National Park. In addition to that purpose, this study sought to integrate the theory of planned behavior and self-perception theory in order to better understand day hiker safety preparedness behaviors. Secondary data from a study on day hikers in the Grand Canyon National Park was used for this investigation. An interview process was employed as the method of data collection. The interview responses were analyzed and the results suggested that past experience, safety messages and knowledge about safety practices influenced safety preparedness behaviors. This study also found that safety preparedness behavior influenced day hiker posterior attitudes about safety preparedness. The resulting attitudes will help to influence future safety preparedness behaviors in a cyclical manner through the conceptual framework. Search and rescue situations might be avoided in the future by debriefing day hikers after they have completed their hike. These debriefing sessions would serve as safety messages that may help hikers identify their attitudes. In doing so, the safety message would reaffirm their positive attitudes about how they behaved correctly to face the hike’s physical challenges or the safety messages can explain what steps the day hiker may need to take if they have negative attitudes about their safety preparedness behaviors.

Graduation Semester

2011-08

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/26030

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2011 Jarrod Scheunemann

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