ABSTRACT
A number of researchers have demonstrated the importance of family within the context of outdoor recreation activity participation. Donald R. Field and J. T. O'Leary found that the most common social group across three select water activities was the family. John R. Kelly investigated 744 activities, and found that with a majority of them participation began with the family. The concept of auxiliary activities is particularly appropriate for the examination of different families' outdoor recreation participation because it assumes that families vary in composition and that as family composition varies so will participation. William R. Burch and Wiley D. Wenger found that family camping style varied along with children's ages. Thomas Buchanan et al. found families in early stages of the family life cycle participated in swimming and water skiing. Families in later stages of the life cycle participated in fishing.
