The Relationship Between Turning Points
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Clemson University TigerPrints All Dissertations Dissertations 12-2012 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURNING POINTS AND TRAVEL STYLES: A STUDY OF FIRST GENERATION OLDER KOREAN AMERICANS Young-joo Ahn Clemson University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Ahn, Young-joo, "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURNING POINTS AND TRAVEL STYLES: A STUDY OF FIRST GENERATION OLDER KOREAN AMERICANS" (2012). All Dissertations. 1072. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1072 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations at TigerPrints. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TigerPrints. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TURNING POINTS AND TRAVEL STYLES: A STUDY OF FIRST GENERATION OLDER KOREAN AMERICANS A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School of Clemson University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management by Young-joo Ahn December 2012 Accepted by: Dr. Francis A. McGuire, Committee Chair Dr. William C. Norman, Committee Chair Dr. Kenneth F. Backman Dr. DeWayne Moore ABSTRACT People experience various significant events across their life course. The purpose of this study was to explore what turning point events occur and how these events influence travel style among first generation older Korean immigrants. To accomplish this, 33 interviewees were recruited by using theoretical sampling and a semi-structured interview with the retrospective interview technique. Following the grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, 1998; Corbin 2008), several themes emerged that created turning point events and travel styles among first generation older Korean immigrants. In the findings, however, the participants seemed to experience not only a single turning point event at a time, but also interpersonal, multiple, and sequential events. They were also in different situations and dealt with their significant life events in relation to various factors (e.g., changes of transitional role, changes of family structure, changes of socio-economic status, and changes of priorities in life), which are general outcomes of turning point events. The model suggests travel behaviors changed after turning point events in three specific travel outcomes of turning point events (i.e., value of travel, timing of travel, and opportunity to travel), which become facilitating or constraining factors that lead to travel participation or non-participation. Four different types of travel styles were emerged: day trips, travel to Korea, travel to iconic places of the United States, and religious and mission trips. This study provides a grounded theory that attempts to explain the complex nature of turning points and the impacts of turning point events on travel among first generation older Korean immigrants. ii DEDICATION To my parents, Jongsoon Ahn and Joonja Kim, my sisters and brother for their unconditional love and unlimited support. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my chairs, Dr. Francis McGuire and Dr. William Norman for their guidance for my dissertation. My two chairs have supported me with their patience, faith, and love during my Ph.D. program. They made my Ph.D. experience as a turning point in my life and encouraged me to set my new life goal to be a good teacher and researcher. Their persistent support and concerns throughout my graduate years would not be forgotten forever. I would also like to thank my committees, Dr. Kenneth Backman and Dr. DeWayne Moore for their feedback and advisement during various stages of my dissertation. Dr. Kenneth Backman has guided me to be attentive to learn about global understanding of tourism in class within cross-cultural class atmosphere. I also appreciate Dr. DeWayne Moore who has kindly advised best methods of my projects. I thank for his willingness and time to give me valuable advices. I truly thank my mentor, Dr. Megan Janke for her continuous support and kindness. Without her, I would not have been interested in the topic of my dissertation and completed all my work. Special thanks goes out to my best friends, Wei-jue Huang, Jungeun Kim, Hakjun Song, Namhyun Kim, Doohyun Hwang, Hwaseon Jeong, Moonkyeong Jeong, Hayang Choi, Bona Kim for their encouragement and support during my master and doctoral study. I would also like to thank all my PRTM graduate students for their encouragement and support. Lastly, I would like to express my love for Seokjoon Yoon who has given me strengths for enduring difficult times and pursuing my doctoral degree. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TITLE PAGE.... ................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT.... .................................................................................................................. ii DEDICATION ................................................................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................................................... ix CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 Problem Statement ................................................................................................... 7 Research Question ................................................................................................... 7 Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................ 8 Rationale of Research Participants and Research Site ............................................ 9 Research Objectives .............................................................................................. 10 Study Contribution ................................................................................................ 11 Definition of Terms ............................................................................................... 12 Outline of Dissertation .......................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ....................................................................... 15 Life Span Perspective ............................................................................................ 15 Gerontological Perspective .................................................................................... 17 Selection, Optimization, and Compensation (SOC) Theory ................................. 19 Travel Style Preference ......................................................................................... 25 Family Life Cycle (FLC) ....................................................................................... 32 Turning Point Events ............................................................................................. 39 Turning Point Perspective ..................................................................................... 43 The Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT) ...................................................... 49 Rationale for Using Grounded Theory .................................................................. 49 Summary ................................................................................................................ 54 v Table of Contents (Continued) Page CHAPTER III: METHODS ............................................................................................ 57 Research Site…. .................................................................................................... 57 Definition of First Generation Older Korean Immigrants... .................................. 60 Study Participants….. ............................................................................................ 61 Data Collection Steps ............................................................................................ 62 Pilot Interviews ...................................................................................................... 67 Interview Language ............................................................................................... 69 Data Analysis ......................................................................................................... 69 Issue of Trustworthiness… .................................................................................... 73 CHAPTER IV: FINDINGS ............................................................................................ 76 Demographic Profiles of the Participants .............................................................. 76 List of Turning Point Events ................................................................................. 80 Analysis of Participants’ Turning Point Events .................................................... 82 The Current and Past Travel Styles of Older Korean Immigrants ...................... 128 Model of the Influence of Turning Point Events among First Generation Korean Immigrants .....................................................................................