Current Research Critique Assignment

Michael Davis

Research Critique Assignment

Abstract: Covering the article Outdoor Recreation and Family Cohesiveness: A Research Approach, this text covers a study implemented in the summer of 1967 to identify the correlation of outdoor activities in a family setting and there impact on the cohesive levels experienced by those family members tested.

The study was done at St. Croix State Park in Minnesota located about 100 miles north of St. Paul, Minnesota. Using the social interaction by families camping and partaking in other outdoor recreation activities in the park, the researchers wanted to observe the and question the participants about how they felt and bonded with one another in such a setting. Once the summer was over they would send out a questionnaire in the mail to families to then again talk about the special experiences they might have had over the summer and if it still had an effect on them going into the fall season. The researchers wanted to further prove the point that outdoor recreation/activities directly impacts family bonding in positive manner.  To find out these results, the summer questionnaire was designed to identify the family members willingness to have intimate communication on troubles, secrets, and mood change.

The researchers knew full well that other factors besides leisure time and being outdoors have a great effect on family cohesiveness, but wanted to identify the impact that these factors particularly had on the theory. Based on a study done in 1962 by Charles Horton Cooley, outdoor recreation and overnight camping fosters an environment that forces families to seek the strengths in each individual. The primitive nature of the events brings out a level of intimacy not typically known at home. The authors of this article Patrick C. West and L.C. Merriam Jr. were inspired by Cooley’s findings and created 6 characteristics of outdoor recreation and their meaning to human beings.

Data suggested before the study done in Minnesota that 69% of people felt that after outdoor recreation as a family they had felt some level of unity amongst each other. To keep data collected accurate, the researchers only interviewed those families who had camped at the park overnight for one day. They also only interviewed the husband, wife, and any child over the age of 12 to keep responses logical to the studies parameters. The questionnaire sent in the mail in October was    designed the same way as the summers but had slightly different questions geared to the longevity of the unity and bonding feeling into later months now that camping was over. Of the questionnaires sent out in the fall, 91% of them were filled out and returned to the researchers which was an astonishing response for in the mail surveys. Other responses were measured to see similarities and differences in the attitudes of the husband and wife. The results showed that those families that had low levels of cohesiveness in the spring, had a great increase of bonding in the summer and fall, feeling closer intimately to the other family members.

The study was a really informational but I feel like it was definitely outdated. The sample size was fairly small and limited as well. Some people in Minnesota might respond differently than those in California, Maine, or Florida. I also feel that a few hundred people does not accurately measure the attitude of the American People. Other studies show that 60% of American Families participate in no more than two outdoor activities a year. This could mean that more people around larger cities elsewhere in the United States or urban families should be examined as well to keep up with this overall integrity of the study. It would be interesting to see the results of a newly designed research encompassing the entire U.S.