| Description |
Interactions between climate, seasons, weather, and nature-based recreation and tourism are complex and poorly understood, particularly at the level of the individual. This dissertation contributes a trio of independent studies that address key methodological, conceptual, and empirical knowledge gaps. The first study is a methodologically focused systematic quantitative review of empirical studies on the relationship between weather and nonoccupational physical activity. Results (N=109) indicate this line of research remains in an exploratory phase, with largely correlational evidence derived from quantitative methods. Studies are limited in terms of research designs, methods, geographic and climate scopes, and theoretical inputs. Outdoor recreation activities and settings are especially overlooked. Results are presented in narrative form and as a database displaying data regarding populations, methods, countries, climates, and physical activity behaviors and settings. Nine directions for future research are proposed with the intention of maturing this line of research. The second study introduces a conceptual model of the ways in which individual recreationists engage with weather during outdoor recreation. The multidisciplinary model acts as a device with which to organize previously disparate concepts regarding human-weather interactions relevant to outdoor recreation. Key conceptual blocks are arranged around a hierarchical, tripartite procedural framework (person-environment fit assessment, constraints negotiation, and multiphasal recreation experience). The model may be used as a conceptual framework as well as a repository of concepts and evidence. The third study is a qualitative descriptive exploration of winter recreationists' perceptions of the seasonal recreation setting in relation to their experiences. I used semistructured interviews to access the perspectives of year-round recreationists engaging in regular winter recreation practices in and around Salt Lake City, Utah. Thematic analysis indicates that participants perceive a number of season-specific biophysical and social setting attributes that together reportedly lead to a qualitatively unique experience during winter. The findings are further interpreted in terms of six facets of the recreation setting's winter persona. Collectively, the studies presented in this dissertation add to a limited knowledge base about the individual weather experience during outdoor recreation, particularly during the winter season and with regard to the context of nearby recreation. |
