In order to develop a leisure experience scale, the first step was to examine documents and previous studies. The measurement questionnaire items were collected and an empirical verification was performed through surveys. The second step was to compil...
In order to develop a leisure experience scale, the first step was to examine documents and previous studies. The measurement questionnaire items were collected and an empirical verification was performed through surveys. The second step was to compile sample questionnaire items. Previous studies and literatures of leisure experience were reviewed in order to collect sample questionnaire items, and a group of experts executed a refining process of these collected items based on face validity. The third step was to conduct a survey based on the items which were refined through the first and the second preliminary researches, and to collect data and once again to execute a refining process of these measurement questionnaire items through factor analysis and reliability analysis. The fourth step was the main research where data was collected through a final survey with refined questionnaire items. SPSS 12.0 (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) program was used to extract measurement questionnaire items, and confirmatory factor analysis and their validity were verified through the use of AMOS 5.0 program.
The example of an empirical study for this main research was taken from the object of the study, undergraduates who were attending leisure-related courses and ordinary people, through the first, the second and the main research. 700 survey forms were distributed but only 500 were re-collected. 87 were exempted due to their insincerity and therefore only 413 surveys were used for the final analysis.
This main research consisted of 30 measurement questionnaires with six factors: self-determination, self-enhancement, social relation, nature relation, flow and freedom. The ‘flow’factor was deleted after a number of processes to refine a scale and to measure reliability during exploratory factor analysis. The flow factor was one of the pleasure sensory perceptions which could be found in all of the other five factors. The notion of flow was ostensibly deleted because it could be used dispersively in many areas, and also be connoted in many aspects of other leisure experiences.
The scale developed during this main research was slightly different than that of its previous one. The reason for this result was not simply due to a reduction of factors. The self-expression factor and flow factor were considered to be perceived freedom which ultimately pursued by leisure experiences. These two factors were not deleted because of its similar characteristics to other factors such as autonomy or self-enhancement, but they were deleted because of their duplication and connotation in other factors. The addition of self-determination factor brought a new dimensional result of positive freedom and negative freedom which were not mentioned in previous research.
Empirical analysis indicated that a measurement scale of leisure experience consisted of 23 measurement questionnaires with five factors. The first factor was nature relation, the second one was self-enhancement, the third one was social relation, the fourth one was self-determination, and the last one was escaping freedom.
Reliability and Validity verification were performed in order to generalize a measurement scale of leisure experience so that it could be applied to other examples. AMOS 5.0 program verified cross validity with a verification technique which confirmed a hypothetical structural system indicated by lower measurement factors and measured variables of a developed scale. The developed scale showed stability in a relatively reliable level through a verification of convergent validity and discriminant validity. A measurement scale of leisure experience was set up as a predictor variable in order to analyze its influence on a criterion variable, life satisfaction. The result showed that self-determination, social relation and nature relation had an important influence on life satisfaction.
A comparative analysis and a sex difference in leisure experience were tested as an additional analysis of the main research. The result of a comparative analysis proved that both male and female showed statistical significance among most variables, and they both also had significant relations to life satisfaction and leisure experiences. According to the t-test result of a sex difference in leisure experience, nature relation and escaping freedom were the only two factors out of five which were statistically significant. Lastly, multiple regression analysis was performed in order to find out a relation between a sex difference in life satisfaction and in leisure experience. The result showed that male highly recognized life satisfaction among self-determination, social relation and escaping freedom with respect to leisure experience. A variance percentage of life satisfaction for these factors was 24.2%. Female, on the other hand, highly recognized life satisfaction among social relation, nature relation and self-enhancement. Their variance percentage of life satisfaction for these factors was 16.3%. This result showed a large influence of leisure experience on male and female throughout their lives.
The important insight was drawn based on the result of this main research as follows.
The significance of developing a measurement scale of leisure experience based on qualitative research done by Sung Young Shin et al(1996a,b) is that it became the first quantitative study of leisure experience.
Despite its important insight, the main research reaches a significant uppermost limit.
It is not possible for a measurement scale developed through this research to accurately measure various complicated and subtle aspects of leisure experience.