Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(1997), it is evident that 'the conventional approach to leisure studies which has a myopic
view of leisure as free or non-obligatory time' (Khan 1997:18) is meaningless due to
blurring of boundaries between free or non-work time and obligatory activities which are
often cumbersome and all-encompassing in everyday life. At an empirical level, a range
of notable studies have highlighted the prevailing constraints to recreation. For example,
Kay and Jackson's (1991) notable study of 366 British adults' recreational constraints
identified:
• 53 per cent who cited money as the main constraint
• 36 per cent who felt lack of time was the main limitation
• conflicts with family or work, transportation problems and health concerns as other
contributory factors.
A study in Alberta which surveyed 1891 people asked respondents to rate fifteen possible
barriers to a desired activity; the results highlighted social isolation, accessibility,
personal reasons (lack of confidence or skill), costs, time and facilities as the main
constraints. It has been proposed that such constraints have a specific ordering in terms of
importance, with the most significant constraints being interpersonal ones, followed by
structural ones (e.g. lack of time or money). Yet such arguments have been queried by
S.Shaw et al. (1991), who found that in a survey of 14,674 Canadians, of eleven
constraints, only lack of energy and ill-health were associated with a lower rate of
participation. Therefore, barriers may be negotiable or solvable, as Kay and Jackson
(1991) suggest. Patmore (1983) summarises the main physical barriers to recreation in
terms of
• seasonally
• biological and social constraints
• money and mobility
• resources and fashions
with the availability of time also being a major constraint.
Coppock and Duffield (1975:8) recognised the principal variations which exist in
terms of demand due to variable uses of leisure time budgets by individuals and groups in
relation to the day, week and year. Both Coppock and Duffield (1975) and Patmore
(1983) use similar data sources, for example the UK's Pilot National Recreation Survey
(British Travel Association and University of Keele 1967 and 1969) and sociological
studies of family behaviour in the pioneering study by Young and Wilmott (1973), to
examine time budgets, variations in demand and constraining factors. One of the most
important distinctions to make is that 'the weekend thus represents a large increase in the
time that can be committed to leisure pursuits, which in turn affects the weekend time
budget' (Coppock and Duffield 1975:14). Yet when one looks beyond the day and week
to the individuals and groups concerned, a wider range of influences emerge which are
important in explaining recreation patterns.
Argyle (1996) highlights the fact that one of the main reasons for examining
constraining and facilitating factors is to understand 'how many people engage in
different kinds of leisure, how much time they spend on it, and how this varies between
men and women, young and old, and other groups' (Argyle 1996). This is because some
groups such as
