Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify and characterize distinct types of birders and their motives for birding in order that the relationship between the two can be better understood. More specifically, this research seeks to determine whether birders along the upper Texas coast can be segmented into distinct experience groups, and further, whether significant differences exist among the groups in terms of their motives for birding, knowledge and skills in birding, degree of commitment to birding, and preferences for management setting attributes. This study is based on two bodies of previous research. In a series of studies that dealt with various animal activity groups, Stephen Kellert developed a typology of scales to measure American's attitudes toward wildlife. These studies largely were concerned with Americans' knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about wildlife and the environment. In this context, Kellert's research yielded insight about many characteristics of birders but left unanswered the question of why people participate in birdwatching. B. L. Driver and his associates have developed standardized scales to measure motives for recreation participation. These scales, called the Recreation Experience Preference (REP) scales, have been validated by a number of subsequent studies. In order to address some of the questions concerning birders, and to extend Kellert's work, the REP scales were used in this study to measure motives for birding and to identify distinct experience groups on the basis of motive differences. The following hypotheses were tested in this study: 1) birders along the upper Texas coast can be divided into distinct, relatively homogeneous segments based on differences in their motives for birding, and 2) each of these segments differs significantly from the others in terms of activities associated with birding, participation in outdoor recreation activities other than birding, preferences for specific managerial settings, and sociodemographic characteristics...
Smith, Stephen Gregory (1993). An investigation of motives for birdwatching along the upper Texas Gulf Coast. Texas A&M University. Texas A&M University. Libraries. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /DISSERTATIONS -1531024.