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|a A descriptive cross-sectional research study of the U.S. and British Virgin Islands: a closer look at the local participation, experiential social learning, and survey participant demographics relating to attitudes about coral reefs and nature after visits to coral reefs with local ecotourism businesses. |h [electronic resource]. |
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|a St. Thomas, Virgin Islands : |b University of the Virgin Islands, |c 2013. |
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|a 1 online resource (91 pages) |
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|a In the series University of the Virgin Islands Digital Collections. |
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|a Copyright Elena Kobrinski. Permission granted to the University of the Virgin Islands to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder. |
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|a This descriptive cross-sectional research study was conducted in the U.S. and British Virgin Islands between August 2011 and April of 2012, to cast light on local participation in tourism visits to coral reefs (Part A), experiential social learning (Part B), and demographic characteristics of participants compared to attitudes about coral and nature (Part C). A four-page survey measuring Attitudes about Coral (18 variables) attitudes about Nature (6 variables) Importance Rankings (7 variables) and Demographics (9 variables) was administered through local ecotourism businesses on five islands: St. Thomas, St. John and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Tortola and Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands. A total of two hundred and ninety surveys were collected. The survey instrument was reliable (Cronbach's Alpha reliability coefficient of .820 for Section (1), Attitudes about Corals and .604 for Section (2), Attitudes about Nature). Part A: local participation did occur (23%), and of this percentage, 16% have lived in the Virgin Islands more than 10 years. Local participants' answers to statements were different from others and noted in responses to three specific statements from Section (1) and (2), Attitudes about Nature). Part A: local participation did occur (23%), and of this percentage, 16% have lived in the Virgin Islands more than 10 years. Local participant's answers to statements were different from others and noted in responses to three specific statements from Sections (1) and (2), Attitudes about Coral and Nature. Experiential social learning was observed with participants who have never visited a coral reef before. "Interacting with others is an important part of my snorkeling experience" was ranked the most important statement to those that have never experienced a coral reef, and the condition of the reef was tanked as highest importance collectively. Cluster analysis was performed on the demographics section and revealed three subgroups: young, high-income; young, low-income; and middle age, college level, high-income. Factor analysis was only performed on Section (1), Attitudes about Corals. The factor analysis revealed two groupings of statement: (1) a group of statements relating to problems (Cronbach's Alpha: a= .786) and (2) a group of statements relating to benefits (Cronbach's Alpha: a= .753). Demographic characteristics via cluster analysis compared to factored survey results revealed that most participants are more positive about benefits than problems relating to attitudes about corals. Factore, i.e., groups of statements, within clusters showed significant differences (Mann-Whitney U Test, p< .001) between mean scores in Factors One and Two within Cluster One, Two and Three with significantly more positive answers to statements phrased in terms of benefits than those phrased in terms of problems. Means in answers to statements ranged from .71 to 1.41 for Factor One (Benefits) and .20 to 1.30 for Factor Two (Problems) on a five-point Likert scale (-2 (strongly disagree), -1 (disagree), 0 (neutral), 1 (agree), 2 (strongly agree)). Overall, most participants have strong environmental views. Increasing local participation by encouraging trips out to the reefs with local businesses could create an environment for experiential social learning, which could motivate the community to become more involved in integrated coastal zone management, encouraging a bottom-up approach and potentially strengthening social-ecological resilience. |
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|a Electronic reproduction. |c University of the Virgin Islands, |d 2014. |f (UVI Digital Library) |n Mode of access: World Wide Web. |n System requirements: Internet connectivity; Web browser software. |
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|a University of the Virgin Islands. |
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|a ecotourism visits |z United States Virgin Islands |x coral reefs. |
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|a ecotourism visits |z British Virgin Islands |x coral reefs. |
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|a UVI Dissertation/Theses Collection. |
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|a UVI |c UVI Dissertation/Theses Collection |
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|u http://uvidl.uvi.edu/AA00000010/00001 |y Electronic Resource |
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|a https:/uvi.sobeklibrary.com/content/AA/00/00/00/10/00001/EKobrinskiThesisthm.jpg |
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|a UVI Dissertation/Theses Collection |
