National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior Natural Resource Stewardship and Science Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Visitor Study Summer 2014 ON THE COVER Ranger and youth visitors on the Chickamauga Battlefield. Photograph courtesy of Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Visitor Study Summer 2014 SESRC Technical Report 15-015 Matt Strawn and Yen Le Social and Economic Sciences Research Center Washington State University Wilson-Short Hall #133 Pullman, WA 99164-4014 Data in this report were collected and analyzed using methods based on established, peer- reviewed protocols and were analyzed and interpreted within the guidelines of the protocols. Views, statements, findings, conclusions, recommendations, and data in this report do not necessarily reflect views and policies of the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the U.S. Government. This report and other reports by the Social and Economic Sciences Research Center (SESRC) are available from the SESRC website (http://psu.sesrc.wsu.edu/reports/) or by contacting the SESRC office at 1.509.335.1511. Please cite this publication as: Strawn, Matt, and Le, Y. 2015. Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park visitor study: Summer 2014. Social and Economic Sciences Research Center, Washington State University, Pullman, WA. Contents Page Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. ix About the Authors ................................................................................................................... ix Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Organization of the Report ...................................................................................................... 1 Presentation of the Results ....................................................................................................... 2 Methods........................................................................................................................................... 3 Survey Design and Procedures ................................................................................................ 3 Sample size and sampling plan ........................................................................................... 3 Questionnaire design ........................................................................................................... 3 Survey procedure ................................................................................................................ 4 Data analysis ....................................................................................................................... 4 Limitations .......................................................................................................................... 5 Special conditions ............................................................................................................... 5 Checking non-response bias ............................................................................................... 6 Results ............................................................................................................................................. 7 Group and Visitor Characteristics ........................................................................................... 7 Visitor group size ................................................................................................................ 7 Visitor group type ............................................................................................................... 7 Visitors with organized groups ........................................................................................... 8 United States visitors by state of residence ......................................................................... 9 Visitors from Georgia and adjacent states by county of residence ................................... 10 International visitors by country of residence ................................................................... 10 Frequency of visits to park ................................................................................................ 11 Visitor age ......................................................................................................................... 12 Respondent gender ............................................................................................................ 13 Visitors of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity............................................................................ 13 Visitor race ........................................................................................................................ 14 Respondent level of education .......................................................................................... 15 Respondent household income ......................................................................................... 15 Respondent household size ............................................................................................... 16 Visitors with physical conditions affecting access/participation ...................................... 17 Trip/Visit Characteristics and Preferences ............................................................................ 18 Park as destination ............................................................................................................ 18 Adequacy of park directional signs ................................................................................... 19 Routes used to reach the park ........................................................................................... 22 Length of visit to battlefield sites...................................................................................... 24 Visit the battlefield on more than one day ........................................................................ 24 Local attractions visited .................................................................................................... 25 Sites visited in the park ..................................................................................................... 28 Order of sites visited in the park ....................................................................................... 29 Awareness of park sites prior to visit ................................................................................ 31 Activities on this visit ....................................................................................................... 44 Use of park bookstore ....................................................................................................... 46 Ranger-led programs/talks ................................................................................................ 48 Evaluation of ranger-led tour or program that you attended ............................................. 49 Topics learned on this visit ............................................................................................... 57 Ratings of Services, Facilities, Attributes, Resources, and Elements ................................... 64 Services and facilities used ............................................................................................... 64 Importance ratings of services and facilities ..................................................................... 65 Quality ratings of services and facilities ........................................................................... 67 Mean scores of importance and quality ratings of services and facilities ......................... 69 Parking facilities ............................................................................................................... 70 Interaction with park rangers ............................................................................................ 72 Appropriateness of activities ............................................................................................. 73 Preferences for Future Visits ................................................................................................. 74 Preferred methods to learn about the park ........................................................................ 74 Overall Quality ...................................................................................................................... 87 Visitor Comment Summaries ................................................................................................ 88 What visitors liked most ................................................................................................... 88 What visitors liked least .................................................................................................... 90 Additional comments ........................................................................................................ 92 Visitor Comments .................................................................................................................. 94 Appendix 1: The Questionnaire