Social Worlds of Rock Climbers at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia
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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports 2010 Social Worlds of Rock Climbers at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia Katherine A. Thompson West Virginia University Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd Recommended Citation Thompson, Katherine A., "Social Worlds of Rock Climbers at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia" (2010). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 3175. https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/3175 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by the The Research Repository @ WVU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you must obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in WVU Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports collection by an authorized administrator of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Social Worlds of Rock Climbers at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia Katherine A. Thompson Dissertation submitted to the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Forest Resources Science Chad D. Pierskalla, Ph.D., Chair Steve W. Selin, Ph.D. David A. Smaldone, Ph.D. Jinyang Deng, Ph.D. Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Resources Program, West Virginia University Jaci Webb-Dempsey, Ph.D. Department of Education, Fairmont State University Morgantown, West Virginia 2010 Keywords: Rock climbing, recreation management, traditional climbing, qualitative research, grounded theory, risk, safety, conflict, recreation planning Copyright 2010 Katherine A. Thompson ABSTRACT Social Worlds of Rock Climbers at Seneca Rocks, West Virginia Katherine A. Thompson The purpose of this study was to provide management at Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, West Virginia, with an understanding of the social worlds of rock climbers at Seneca Rocks, to ascertain any management interventions that can improve access to climbing areas at Seneca Rocks, and to determine how permitted group sizes among guided and/or unguided climbers would affect the social worlds of climbers at Seneca Rocks. Between the fall of 2009 and spring of 2010 17 interviews with rock climbers of varying experience climbing at Seneca Rocks were conducted, then analyzed along with accident reports, internet forum discussions, academic literature, “grey” literature, and artifacts, using a constructivist grounded theory method. The social subworlds of climbers at Seneca Rocks were found to be highly fragmented among infrequent users of the area as well as social insiders, whereas frequent users were the most cohesive social subworld. This fragmentation led to challenges communicating safety information between more- and less experienced climbers. Social fragmentation among insiders led to incomplete information being passed on to area management, meaning that management decisions may be informed by the group of insiders that partnered with them but not by the group that distrusted the US Forest Service. It is recommended that area management attempt to cultivate trust with the latter group of insiders in order to ensure that future decision making is fully informed, especially with respect to issues that are complex and nuanced among climbers, like bolting. Further, it is necessary to exploit new information channels and reconsider current communication approaches to ensure that climbers with little information about the area can make safe climbing decisions while climbing at Seneca Rocks. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would be remiss if I did not start out by thanking Jo Tynon, Bruce Shindler, and Royal Jackson at Oregon State University, without whose encouragement I never would have considered graduate school or my current career path. To my committee: words will never express the gratitude I feel for experiencing this journey with you. I couldn’t have asked for better people to share it with. To Julie Fosbender and Steve Kickert: thank you for your wisdom, and for providing so many incredible opportunities to give back to one of my favorite places on the planet. To the many graduate students and faculty both at West Virginia University and around the world with whom I have been blessed to cross paths, thank you for your support, humor, curiosity, and encouragement. To Karen Robinson, I miss you terribly every day. To all my online friends, including but definitely not limited to Bob, Brooke, Cheryl, Clarity, Jeff, Jen, Margaret, Melanie, Paul, Rejoyce, the various Sues and Susans, Trent, and too many others of you to possibly mention in this brief space (but you know I mean you), for supporting me, putting up with me, and generally propping me up when I needed it, through the best and the worst of it. I cannot thank you enough. To Brandy and Deb: thank you for making me take breaks, keeping me sane, feeding the family, and all of the other incredible things you do just by being you. To my folks: thank you for trying to understand this crazy graduate school thing I’ve been doing for so long now. Finally, to Ben and Logan: I could not have done this without your support, love, and general silliness – thank you ever so much for following me around and putting up with me during my less-than-pleasant moments. You are the best family I could ever ask for. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...........................................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 Overview..................................................................................................................................... 1 Purpose of study.......................................................................................................................... 6 Research questions...................................................................................................................... 7 Significance of the study............................................................................................................. 8 Limitations of the Study.............................................................................................................. 9 Definitions................................................................................................................................. 10 A sensitizing framework........................................................................................................... 11 Why sensitizing concepts?.................................................................................................... 11 Social worlds and symbolic interactionism .............................................................................. 12 Rock climbing: safety, etiquette, and group sizes..................................................................... 16 Summary................................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 3: METHOD .............................................................................................................. 22 Dealing with complex social situations – constructivist grounded theory ............................... 23 Situational, project, and positional mapping......................................................................... 27 The Importance of Nonhuman Actors/Actants..................................................................... 28 Study area.................................................................................................................................. 30 Data collection .......................................................................................................................... 30 Interview protocol................................................................................................................. 32 Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 33 Constructivist grounded theory......................................................................................... 33 Memos and reflexivity .......................................................................................................... 33 Triangulation and member-checking .................................................................................... 34 Summary..................................................................................................................................