Livestock Show Attendees' Attitudes About
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LIVESTOCK SHOW ATTENDEES’ ATTITUDES ABOUT AGRICULTURE AT THE GREAT YORKSHIRE SHOW A Thesis by BRYTANN J. BUSICK Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Chair of Committee, Holli Leggette Committee Members, Gary Briers Chris Skaggs Head of Department, Clare Gill May 2018 Major Subject: Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications Copyright 2018 Brytann J Busick ABSTRACT Society is distanced from agriculture. Therefore, consumers and producers lack opportunities to have firsthand interactions and experiences with each other. Lack of firsthand experiences, which are important to attitude development, creates confusion for consumers and affects their buying and voting decisions. Fairs, however, provide unique opportunities for consumers to experience agriculture up-close and in-person. Although fairs in the United States include agricultural elements, those in the U.K. like the Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) more heavily promote and feature them on their showgrounds. The purpose of this research, therefore, was to determine if attending a U.K. livestock show changed attendees’ attitudes about agriculture and to compare attendees’ attitudes to those of California State Fair (CSF). The population consisted of GYS attendees at the livestock show on July 12 and 13, 2017. This study used mixed methods with quantitative and qualitative components. The instrument used in the quantitative component included a then and now semantic differential table with bipolar adjective pairs to measure attendees’ attitudes about agriculture before and after the experience. Qualitative interviews were conducted using photo elicitation to learn about how attendees developed attitudes about agriculture prior to attending the GYS. Results indicated that GYS attendees had positive attitudes about agriculture before they attended the Show and had more positive attitudes after they attended the Show. Attendees had more positive before and after attitudes than CSF fairgoers. Further research is needed to better understand how GYS attendees developed ii such positive attitudes about agriculture prior to attending the Show and what elements of the GYS experience were most influential to attendees’ positive attitude development. iii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my parents, grandparents, sisters, and dear friends, to cups of tea and classical music, and to the Gilmore Girls. I could not have traveled, researched, or written this thesis without you. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my thesis chair, Dr. Leggette, for her support, patience, and endless edits and feedback. Dr. Leggette, you challenged me through this process and because of that I know that I have become a better writer and researcher. I have enjoyed working with you to write my thesis. We really do make a great team. Thank you to my committee members Dr. Briers, Dr. Skaggs, and Dr. Jarvis- Whitaker. I appreciate all of your time, support, and advice. You each added a different perspective to my research and helped make this thesis the best it could be. I also owe a big thank you to Dr. Redwine. Redwine, I appreciate all of the times you offered a listening ear, a witty pun, and a good story, or seven. Thank you to my dear friends Danielle, Roz, Becca, and Hannah for your support, listening ears, and belief in me. Danielle, you were the best friend, listener, travel-buddy, and research assistant. I truly mean it when I say that I couldn’t have done it without you. Roz, you always encouraged me to stay the course and to persevere. Thank you for supporting me every step of the way through this process. Bec, I appreciate all the times you listened to me share about thesis deadlines, data struggles, and writer’s fatigue. Thanks for always being so thoughtful and caring. And, Hannah. Thank you for feeding me, studying with me, and being a true friend during my time in Texas. Thank you to my family—Mom, Dad, and Bryleigh. You have always believed in me and supported me through all of my many adventures. I love you all dearly. Finally, thank you to my Grandparents. Papa and Grandma, without you my undergraduate degree, master’s degree, and this thesis would not have been possible. v Your hard work, support, and the legacy you created for our family allowed for all of my dreams to come true thus far. I hope to always make you proud. vi CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING SOURCES This work was supported by a thesis committee consisting of Dr. Leggette, Dr. Briers, and Dr. Jarvis Whitaker of the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications and Dr. Skaggs of the Department of Animal Science. Dr. Briers advised the quantitative data analysis. All other work conducted for the dissertation was completed by the student independently. Graduate study was supported by a fellowship from Texas A&M University. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION .................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................... v CONTRIBUTORS AND FUNDING RESOURCES ...................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ viii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ x LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ xi CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................... 1 Agricultural Fairs Today ............................................................................ 4 U.K. Agricultural Fairs ............................................................................... 5 Significance of Study ................................................................................. 5 II. LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................... 8 Agricultural Literacy .................................................................................. 9 Attitudes ................................................................................................... 11 Public’s Attitude about Agriculture ......................................................... 12 History of Agricultural Fairs .................................................................... 15 Livestock Shows ...................................................................................... 19 Yorkshire Agricultural Society ................................................................ 21 Great Yorkshire Show .............................................................................. 23 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................ 28 Purpose, Objectives, and Questions ......................................................... 37 III. METHODS ............................................................................................... 39 Quantitative Study .................................................................................... 41 Study Design ................................................................................ 41 Population and Sample ................................................................. 42 Instrument ..................................................................................... 43 viii Page Validity ......................................................................................... 46 Reliability ..................................................................................... 47 Data Collection ............................................................................. 48 Data Analysis ............................................................................... 50 Qualitative Study ...................................................................................... 52 Context of Study ........................................................................... 52 Research Design ........................................................................... 56 Participants ................................................................................... 57 Data Collection ............................................................................. 60 Data Analysis ............................................................................... 65 Trustworthiness ............................................................................ 66 IV. RESULTS AND FINDINGS ................................................................... 69 Research Objective 1 ................................................................................ 69 Research Question 1.1 .................................................................. 69 Research Question 1.2 .................................................................. 75 Research Question 1.3 .................................................................. 78 Research Objective 2 ................................................................................ 90 Research Question 2.1 .................................................................. 91 Research Question 2.2 .................................................................