Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Dissertation

Keywords

College students--Recreation--United States; College students--United States--Attitudes;

Abstract

An enduring and essential element of collegiate recreational sports programs is an emphasis on providing high quality, high impact programs and services. In addition, participants in collegiate recreation settings have an expectation to receive benefits as a result of their participation. If recreational sport programs cannot meet the expectations of participants in their pursuit of these benefits, continued participation is unlikely. As collegiate recreational professionals work to continually improve their programs and services, they should also understand the needs and wants of their participants. Understanding what participant needs and wants are should allow leisure service providers to improve the programs and services offered in the recreational sports setting and more effectively deliver expected benefits. The purpose of the study is to explore dimensions of service quality and perceived recreational benefits in recreational sports programs. In addition, the study will explore how institutional type as reflected in its mission impacts on these factors. Also, the study seeks to explore dimensions of service quality and perceptions of recreational benefits when reviewing program areas such as intramurals, aquatics and fitness. The study is also designed to explore dimensions of service quality and perceptions of recreational benefits and other important variables such as participant types, national origin, gender and ethnicity. Quantitative methods will be used to analyze responses from participants from each of the three institutions. Results indicate that a relationship does exist between service quality and benefits in collegiate recreation programs. Additionally, differences were found between the three institutional types, the three types of programs as well as gender. No differences were found between ethnic groups and there was not enough of a response in national origin to complete an analysis. Although a well-documented body of knowledge exists in recreational sports, service quality and leisure benefits, few studies have investigated the relationship of dimensions of service quality and perceived recreational sports benefits. This study aims to add to the existing recreational sports body of knowledge.

Year of Submission

2013

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

Department

Division of Leisure, Youth and Human Services

First Advisor

Christopher R. Edginton, Co-Chair

Second Advisor

Samuel Lankford, Co-Chair

Date Original

2013

Object Description

1 PDF file (ix, 195 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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