Leisure Types: Factor Analyses of Leisure Profiles

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
This study describes the application of a Q-type factor analysis to the search for types of people who have similar patterns of leisure behavior. The data base included information on participation in 21 indoor and home-based leisure activities, and 38 outdoor and sports activities gathered from 984 Idaho residents age 18 and over. Procedures were repeated on several subsamples in an effort to replicate findings. Seven subsamples were randomly drawn from the original data base: three general-population samples, two male samples, and two female samples. Five leisure types were identified in analysis of the general population data. All but one centered around indoor activities. Five male and five female leisure types were identified. Two of the factors extracted from female samples were similar to factors extracted from the general population data. A comparison of findings from the Q-type factor analyses (clustering people) with findings from an R-type factor analysis (clustering activities) of the same data indicated that the two approaches yield very different results.