The social organization of leisure among Mexican-Americans in Houston, Texas

Abstract

The problem addressed in this research was: do identifiable patterns of participation in leisure activities exist among Mexican-Americans? Using data from a sample of 130 Mexican-Americans living in areas of high ethnic concentration in Houston, Texas, this topic was studied. Participation in leisure activities was addressed in terms of two dimensions, extensity and intensity. Participation extensity answers the question, was an activity participated in? Participation intensity answers the question, how many times was an activity participated in? Independent variables describing the arrangement of social persons and social groups were used to identify participation patterns in leisure behavior within the study population. In other words, this was a study of the social organization of leisure behavior among Mexican-Americans living in Houston. Identifiable patterns of subcultural social participation, or membership in voluntary and political organizations, suggested that similar patterns might be identified in leisure behavior. Leisure participation patterns were assumed to differ between Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans, based on previously-identified differences in social participation between the two groups. Leisure participation patterns, in terms of extensity and intensity, were examined to determine if the behavior occurred randomly among the population studied. Participation in 32 leisure activities was ranked, by extensity and intensity, and compared between two populations, Houston Mexican-Americans and the general population of the United States. Data from the Houston population was collected for primary analysis in this study. Data collected in 1972 by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) from a national probability sample was used to represent the general population of the United States. Participation in the 32 leisure activities was examined in relation to 16 independent variables describing the social organization of participants...