The Congruence of Recreation Activity Dimensions Among Urban, Suburban, and Rural Residents

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Abstract
This study empirically assessed the degree of congruence of outdoor recreation activity dimensions among residents living in three settings: urban, suburban, and rural areas. The data were taken from the 1977 National Outdoor Recreation Survey of the American general public. Six activity dimensions were obtained by factor analyzing 26 outdoor recreation activities for each of the three settings. The coefficient of congruence was used to assess the stability of the six dimensions across the three settings. The degree of congruence was assessed by comparing the following pairs of rotated factor matrices: (1) urban vs. suburban; (2) urban vs. rural; and (3) suburban vs. rural. The congruence coefficients of all of the correlated dimensions were higher than.80. These afford strong evidence that the six dimensions could be considered as stable. The correlation coefficients revealed similar results.