A study of leisure-time habits of young men and young women in Los Angeles

126 Pages·04.885 MB·English

by  Hartman, Stella Elizabeth

A STUDY OF LEISURE-TIME HABITS OF YOUNG MEN
AND YOUNG WOMEN IN LOS ANGELES
A Thesis
Presented to
the Faculty of the Department of Sociology
The University of Southern California
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of.Arts________
by
Stella Elizabeth Hartman
August 1942
UMI Number: EP65636
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This thesis, written by
STELLA ELIZABETH HARTMAN
under the direction of h&?.. Faculty Committee,
and approved by all its members, has been
presented to and accepted by the Council on
Graduate Study and Research in partial fulfill­
ment of the requirements for the degree of
lIASTmd9iH^RTS
Dean
Secretary
September,1942
Date.
Faculty Committee
*
Chairman
£
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED .......... 1
The problem .................... . 1
Statement of the problem.................... 1
Importance of the s t u d y ......... 2
Definition of terms used .................... 4
Organization of the study .................... 5
II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE........................ 6
Literature on recreation and leisure-time
activities ................................ 7
III. SOURCES AND METHODS...................... 14
Groups studied ................................ 14
Method of making the study.................... 15
Survey method.............................. 16
Observation method.......................... 17
Interview method .......................... 18
The questionnaire method .................. 19
Type of questionnaire to be used.............. 21
Summary of method of making the study . . . . . 30
IV. LEISURE-TIME ACTIVITIES . . . . . . . . . . . i . 32
Activities classified ........................ 40
Specific activities .......................... 46
Summary . . . . . . 59
CHAPTER PAGE
V. DESIRES FULFILLED AND DISTANCE TRAVELED......... ’ 6l
Desires fulfilled . ........................ 6l
Distance traveled............... . ........... 77
Summary ................................... . 79
VI. INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES......... 82
VII. WHERE AND WITH WHOM LEISURE TIME IS SPENT . . . . 92
VIII. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS................... 99
Method of making the s t u d y .................. 99
Conclusions.................................. 100
Result of tabulations .................. 102
Conclusions.................................. 106
BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................... Ill
APPENDIX ........................ 115
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE PAGE
I. Classification of Activities, By Age and Sex,
Ranked According to Popularity ................ 41
II. Classification of Activities with Participation
Count, By Age and Sex Groups................... 45
III. Participation in Out-of-door Activities, According
to Age and Sex Groups ................. 48
IV. Participation in Indoor Activities, According to
Age and Sex Groups.................. 52
V. Frequency of Participation in Certain Activities,
as shown by Check List, According to Age and
Sex Groups.......................... 53
VI. Participation in Desired Activities, by Percentage,
According to Age and Sex Groups................. 62
VII. Reasons for not Fulfilling Desires, According to
Age and Sex Groups .............. 65
VIII. Comparison for Women of Activities Liked Best with
Activities Engaged In, According to Age Groups . 70
IX. Comparison for Men of Activities Liked Best with
Activities Engaged In, By Age Groups.......... *71
X. Distance Traveled to Certain Activities, According
to Age and Sex Groups .....................78
TABLE PAGE
xr. Number of Individuals Who Cheeked the Various
Interests, According to Age and Sex Groups . . . 8?
XII. Where Leisure-Time Activities are Preferred,
According to Age and Sex Groups, By Percentage. . 93
XIII. Number Preferring to Share Activities With a Few
Intimate Friends, According to Age and Sex
Groups, By Percentage ........................ . 97
CHAPTER I
PROBLEM AND DEFINITION OF TERMS USED
An interest in community planning in recreation and in
methods of developing activity programs in group work agencies
in Los Angeles led to the undertaking of a study of the recrea­
tional habits and desires of young people living in the Los
Angeles area,
I. THE PROBLEM
Statement of the problem. It was the purpose of this
study (1) to discover the recreational habits and desires of
young people in Los Angeles; (2) to find out the relationship
of the activities engaged in and the general interests of young
people; (3) to experiment with certain types of questionnaires
in an attempt to discover the best method of getting the
desired results.
The study was made for the specific purpose of finding
out what types of activities are engaged in by young people in
Los Angeles and to discover some of the attitudes of the par­
ticipants toward those activities. It attempted to ascertain
whether or not young people feel that they are able to par­
ticipate in the activities they want, and to discover what
factors, in the estimation of the people studied, prevented
them from engaging in the desired activities.
Planning for leisure-time activities, whether it be
planning for a total community program or for the activities
program, of a.single agency or group, should be based on more
than just a knowledge of the specific activities in which people
participate or wish to participate.. A knowledge of the motiva­
tions behind the choice of activities is of greater significance
to the planner and provides an opportunity for more construc­
tive and more creative planning. Are activities chosen be­
cause of the facilities available? Are they chosen because
"everybody is doing it?" Are they chosen because of some
inner satisfaction to the doer? Are they related to specific
interests or abilities of the participant? These questions
are important and should be understood by those providing
recreational opportunities. As a step in the direction of a
clearer understanding of motivations for choice, the study
ventured to discover the relationship of the activities en­
gaged in to the stated interests of the participants.
Importance of the study. A great deal has been said
from time to time about the leisure time needs of young men
and young women in Los Angeles and their inability to fulfill
their recreational desires because of (1) a lack of recrea­
tional facilities and (2) insufficient funds to spend on
recreation. Some community planners and leaders of organiza­
tions providing recreation programs felt the need for a
verification of these statements. Others have felt the need
to know more about the interests and desires of not only the
young people taking part in programs already provided, by the
private group work agencies.and the public playgrounds, but also
of that much larger number of young men and women who do not
frequent these places. Others felt the need for a better
understanding of what the young people themselves thought
about their leisure-time pursuits. There were a number of
studies which covered most of the above points, but they were
made as studies representative of the recreation interests and
desires of young people throughout the country as a whole.
While these studies are valuable and formed the basis for much
that had been said about the needs of the Los Angeles young
people there seemed to be a need for a specific study of the
Los Angeles group to see how they compare with the findings
on a country-wide basis. Sound community planning requires
that plans be made not on general needs but on the needs of
the community which the program is to serve.
Some of the most often quoted studies on leisure-time
activities used the check list type of questionnaire. This
type of questionnaire is highly suggestive. While it pro­
duces information whieh can be easily tabulated, it predeter­
mines the answer to a large extent. A questionnaire with a
minimum amount of suggestions would produce results that would
give a truer picture. It was to test this belief that a