320 Elmendorf et al.: Black and White Participation and Preferences factors. One factor, termed Solitary Participation, included solitary activities, outdoor land activities, outdoor water activities, physical exercise, and visiting alone. The second factor, termed Group Participation, contained social activi- ties, food-related activities, team activities, community activities, and visiting with three or more people. Composite scores were calculated for each of these two factors by computing the mean scores of the individual items for each subject in the sample. The higher the scores, the greater the subject’s Solitary or Group Participation. Cronbach’s Alpha for the two scores was 0.612 and 0.695, respectively. Landscape Preference. Respondents were asked how important (1 = not important, 2 = somewhat important, 3 = very important) it was for parks to have each of a list of specific attributes. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation suggested the presence of five factors. Items loading highest on the first factor referred to Nature (streams, rivers, lakes, animals, fish, and birds). The second factor dealt with Recreational Facilities (picnic areas, family areas, outdoor cooking facilities, restrooms, drinking fountains, game fields, and recreational facilities). The third factor referred to Maintenance/Security (litter-free areas, safety, trash containers, parking spaces, and proper signs). The fourth factor focused on Ethnic Concerns (presence of others of same ethnicity, availability of information in ethnic languages, and staff knowledge of visitors’ customs). The fifth factor described Traditional Park Landscapes (short grass, open forests, and paved paths). Composite scores were calculated for each of the five factors by computing the mean scores of the individual item for each subject in the sample. Cronbach’s Alpha for the five scales were, respectively: 0.876, 0.824, 0.713, 0.700, and 0.651. For all measures, higher scores indicated higher importance of landscape characteristics. Willingness to Volunteer. To assess the respondents’ attitudes about volunteering in urban parks, respondents were asked, “Are you interested in doing any of the follow- ing as a volunteer (without pay) to help parks in your area (yes or no)?” Items included (1) planting trees in parks, (2) cleaning up vacant lots for planting gardens, (3) cleaning up trash from parks, (4) helping prevent crime in parks, and (5) working with others to improve the quality of parks. Composite scores were determined by the number of “yes” answers. Cronbach’s Alpha was 0.847. Statistical Procedures The analysis was carried out in two steps. First, a two-factor analysis of variance tested the differences between Blacks and Whites, and between Atlanta and Philadelphia (Table 1). Such an analysis allowed for assessing not only overall or main differences between the two racial groups, and between the two study sites, but it also provided informa- tion on whether differences between Blacks and Whites ©2005 International Society of Arboriculture differed depending on the metropolitan area in which they lived through testing of the Race × city interaction. It was also anticipated that Blacks and Whites would differ in regard to such characteristics such as age, gender, education, or income. If this were the case, any observed differences in participation and preferences might result from these socio-demographic differences rather than from race per se. Consequently, the relationships were re-exam- ined using two-factor covariance analysis in which race and city were again included as the factors, along with age, gender, education, and income as covariates, thus statisti- cally controlling for the effects of these latter variables (Table 2). For this analysis, age was measured in years, gender was dummy coded with “male” as the reference category, education was operationalized so that 1 = less than high school graduation; 2 = high school graduate, no further schooling; 3 = some post-high school education but not a college graduate; 4 = bachelor’s degree; 5 = some post- graduate education; and 6 = advanced college degree. Income was measured by six categories ranging from less than $5,000 to more than $100,000 and scored from 1 to 6 for analysis (Table 3). RESULTS The results of the two-stage analysis (the two-factor analysis of variance and the covariance analysis) are presented below. Consideration is given not only to the differences between Blacks and Whites, but also to possible regional differences, to the interaction of region and race, and to the effects of the covariates (age, gender, education, and income) on frequency of park visitation, perceived benefits, the type of participation (solitary or group), landscape preferences, and willingness to volunteer. Findings from the analysis of variance for all variables are presented in Table 1; findings from the covariance analysis are contained in Tables 2 and 3. Frequency of Park Visitation Blacks reported visiting urban parks and forests less frequently than Whites (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference between the two cities for this variable. The difference between Blacks and Whites in frequency of visitation did not differ significantly for Atlanta and Philadel- phia respondents (i.e., the statistical interaction of Race × city was not significant at the 0.05 level) (Table 1). When age, gender, education, and income were controlled in the analysis of covariance, the difference between Blacks and Whites in visitation frequency declined somewhat but remained statistically significant (P = 0.016). Income level was positively associated and age was negatively associated with frequency of parks visitation, but gender, education, and city were not statistically related to visitation frequency.
November 2005
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