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Open research questions in Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management

124 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 3,703 Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Menstruation studies is a “rapidly growing field of inquiry and advocacy” (Bobel et al., 2020) which allows for diverse voices and approaches to add to the discourse. Future studies can focus on menstruation experiences in specific activities, locations, or participant groups. Studying the experiences of individuals who have menstrual- related issues, such as endometriosis and uterine fibroids, and the impact these have on outdoor pursuits is also needed. Other approaches to this topic would likely lead to novel findings and explore how other cultures view and practice menstruation health. The inclusion of boys and men in this research focus is vital to understand and improve the general knowledge and support of menstrual health. As there are many valid approaches to studying this experience, each study needs to be conscious of the 1 3Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education previous and concurrent studies to establish a better understanding with the explicit purpose of improving menstruation experiences.

    Wild periods: learning from individual stories to better support communal experiences in the outdoors and beyond · 2026 · DOI

  • This research demonstrates in-depth insights into the current impact of urban living on children’s outdoor activities from the mothers’ perspectives. I applied a qualitative study design by conducting 10 narrative interviews over two sessions, with each lasting for an hour. However, scheduling interview tim- ings based on participants’ availability presented challenges. Further, gathering and analyzing the data were time-consum- ing tasks that required significant efforts from the researcher. Additionally, as qualitative research focused on in-depth expe- riences, the findings are not generalized for broader popula- tions, but provide culturally contextualized insights instead.

    Analyzing the Impact of the Urban Lifestyle on Children’s Outdoor Play Activity in Saudi Arabia · 2026 · DOI

  • This study has several important limitations that constrain the strength of its conclusions. First, this paper represents a literature synthesis and mathematical modeling exercise, not an empirical study. The 7.7%/8.3% pairing is the output of parametric optimization within a modeled environment; it has not been validated against field data from actual trekkers. Second, the foundational load-carriage studies (Knapik et al., 1996; Birrell et al., 2007; Haisman, 1988) were conducted primarily on young military-age male subjects. Extrapolation of THE TRUNCATION ERROR 22 their findings to middle-aged and older recreational trekkers of both sexes introduces populationvalidity uncertainty that cannot be quantified without age-stratified load-carriage research. Third, the IBW formulas used as anchor calculations were derived from predominantly white, middle-class American and European populations from specific historical periods (1960s– 1980s Metropolitan Life Insurance data). Their applicability across ethnic groups, body types, and contemporary population distributions is limited (Shah et al., 2006; Peterson et al., 2016). Fourth, the framework does not account for terrain type, elevation profile, ambient temperature, pack design and fit characteristics, or individual fitness level—all of which affect the relationship between pack weight and biomechanical stress. The interaction of walking slope and load on lumbar joint contact forces documented by Sturdy et al. (2025) is particularly relevant for pilgrimage routes with significant elevation changes. Fifth, the model-derived consistency scores reported in preliminary iterations of this work are internal measures of how well candidate percentage pairs maintain sort-order integrity across the height-weight spectrum. They should not be interpreted as clinical reliability statistics or compared to reliability coefficients from empirical psychometric or clinical studies. Sixth, sample sizes in some cited studies are small (e.g., Shymon et al., 2014, N=6 for spinal ROM under load; Liang, 2024, N=30; Siragy et al., 2024), limiting the precision of threshold estimates derived from those studies. PHASE 2: PROPOSED EMPIRICAL VALIDATION PROTOCOL THE TRUNCATION ERROR 23 The theoretical framework presented in this paper generates a testable prediction: that when recreational trekkers on the Camino de Santiago self-optimize their pack weight through trial and field experience, the resulting final pack weights will cluster in a range corresponding to approximately 7.7–8.3% of actual body weight for the median participant.

    The Truncation Error: How Half a Century of Misquoted Research Created a Flawed Standard for Recreational Pack Weight · 2026 · DOI

  • To address the influence of gender roles on recreational participation in African societies, it is essential to adopt an Afrocentric approach that centers on Indigenous knowledge systems and the cultural values of Africans. It is also important to highlight that Governments, schools, and community organizations should actively integrate traditional African recreational practices such as games, dances, and festivals into policy and programming, recognizing them as valid forms of education, cultural preservation, and leisure. Recreational service providers must restructure recreational services and also reflect on gender-inclusive practices in any given recreational context and communal participation. Thereby challenging the rigid, binary gender divisions introduced through colonial systems. The elders, traditional leaders, and cultural practitioners should be empowered as key stakeholders in the design of recreational initiatives that resonate with African identities and realities. Finally, academic institutions should prioritize research on Afrocentric recreational models to create equitable participation in recreation among Africans, examining how these frameworks can inform inclusive development, foster youth empowerment, and promote social cohesion across diverse African contexts.

    The influence of gender roles on a recreational participation among the Africans: Literature review from an Afrocentric lens · 2026 · DOI

  • Leisure may support refugees’ QOL, however, a review of the literature reveals a gap in understanding the influence of leisure availability and participation on the QOL of adult refugees residing in Turkey.

    The Influence of Leisure on the Quality of Life of Refugees in Turkey · 2023 · DOI

  • While some leisure scholarship has focused on surveillance (Jordan & Aitchison, 2008;Rose & Spencer, 2016;Silk, Millington, Rich & Bush, 2016), we believe further attention is warranted, not least because of the incredible permeation and "deep mediatization" (Couldry & Hepp, 2020) of digital leisure in everyday life.

    Leisure as Surveillance, and the Surveillance of Leisure · 2023 · DOI

  • Leisure often occupies an implicit presence in most SI research, yet the potential emanating from SI’s conceptual versatility remains underexplored in leisure studies.

    Social Infrastructure: Directions for Leisure Studies · 2023 · DOI

  • The main goal of the study is to analyse a rarely investigated relationship between leisure-time activities and Schwartz’s 10 basic values in adolescents.

    Basic values as predictors of leisure-time activities among adolescents · 2022 · DOI

  • These findings point to craft breweries as potential entry points for LTPA promotion, warranting further research regarding patron behaviour and perceptions.

    Promotion of leisure-time physical activity by craft breweries in Knoxville, Tennessee · 2021 · DOI

  • To better understand the relationship and provide new insight to inconsistent findings, we examined how health beliefs concerning the benefits of leisure moderate the association between leisure participation and subjective wellbeing by drawing on data gathered in a self-administered survey conducted in southwest China with 329 older adults.

    The role of health beliefs in moderating the relationship between leisure participation and wellbeing among older Chinese adults · 2021 · DOI

  • Under-explored or neglected opportunities for macro-level theoretical analysis are identified but, when examined, they invariably expose the theoretical weakness of the SLP, particularly regarding any distinctive role for serious as opposed to casual leisure.

    A critique of serious leisure as theory · 2021 · DOI

  • How can we ensure that access to shared leisure spaces and ordinary leisure time practices for children, adolescents, or adults with disabilities is not limited to a tolerated co-presence with other actors? Leisure, as unconstrained time and free space, is particularly conducive to the inclusive project.

    Les enjeux des pratiques inclusives dans le domaine des loisirs. Du projet inclusif à la question des inscriptions sociales · 2021 · DOI

  • The literature review revealed gaps in research and publications addressing the relationship between the quality of the city’s recreational product and the level of physical activity of its inhabitants, and results of previous studies vary depending on their location (which was also confirmed by the pilot survey).

    The relationship between the quality of the city’s recreational offering and the physical activity of its inhabitants – results of a pilot survey in Bielsko-Biała · 2020 · DOI

  • Although there are numerous investigations of the constraints to leisure participation experienced by adults living with acquired disabilities and illnesses, to date there are limited studies on the experiences of living with PD.

    ‘I’ve got Parkinson’s and that makes a difference’: Understanding health and leisure through a Parkinson’s disease diagnosis · 2019 · DOI

  • The paper explains that conditions of contemplative leisure are solitude that gives person happiness and calm having a joyful leisure in its base, while urban style of life is based on dull work; internal free- dom and availability of free time and friend, who makes solitude bearable without disturbing it; intellectually full lessons not limited by any external conditions; certain level of preparation and ability of personality to solitary life.

    The Renaissance leisure conception through the works of Petrarch · 2017

  • Despite the ubiquitous nature of DIY and home improvement activities in western culture, research that specifically examines the relationship between DIY home improvement and leisure is scarce.

    Never stop improving: The complexity and contradictions of DIY home renovating as a serious leisure pursuit · 2015 · DOI

  • Conclusion: Currently, there is insufficient evidence available to determine whether participation in individually chosen leisure activities improves mental health for people aged over 65 who have depression.

    The Impact of Leisure Participation on Mental Health for Older People with Depression: A Systematic Review · 2015 · DOI

  • AbstractFew studies have examined whether and how park and recreation non-users might respond to agency strategies that seek to mitigate the severity of constraints and facilitate more frequent use of parks The purpose of this study was to determine under what conditions changes in park delivery might result in people expressing interest in visiting parks and how infrequent visitors with different constraint profiles supported these potential changes.

    Alleviating Park Visitation Constraints through Agency Facilitation Strategies · 2010 · DOI

  • While Nisbett and Hinton (2005) explored motivations for AT hikers with disabilities, only limited research could be found on understanding motives among other AT users.

    Why Individuals Hike the Appalachian Trail: A Qualitative Approach to Benefits · 2008 · DOI

  • Data from a 1969 survey of urban California Blacks and whites cast doubt on marginality as an explanation; ethnicity as an alternative explanation should be explored, in that differences could result from leisure style and those normative restraints within the Black community that temper leisure choices.

    Black under‐participation in wildland recreation: Alternative explanations · 1978 · DOI

  • Are the family life cycle transitions the key times on which to focus a developmental approach to the study of leisure socialization? In general, this study does little more than provide a basis for designing further research into how leisure activities are begun, learned and developed.

    Socialization Toward Leisure: A Developmental Approach · 1974 · DOI

  • Our approach points up the need for an extension of the present analysis to other types of outdoor recreation, and our findings seem to sug gest that further research on participation ought to be oriented around the no tions of direct and indirect effects and of intervening influences.

    Early Life Experiences and Adult Sports Participation · 1972 · DOI

  • Despite the lack of agreement between the Kuder and the method outlined, the individ- ual’s choices of occupational groupings may well be used as a quickly administered supplementary check on interests, along with In one of the standard interest inventories. THE KUDER PREFERENCE RECORD 307 Further investigation of factors which in- flucnce an individual's choice of occupations or groups of occupations is needed in order t o show how this method of dcterrnining inter- est may bc made more useful.

    A Comparison of Relative Interest in Occupational Groupings and Activity Interests as Measured by the Kuder Preference Record · 1948 · DOI

  • These passengers were not purposefully engaging in slow travel (which in any case is little known in Romania) of even the softest kind.

    On the slow train: tourists’ experiences of deceleration · 2026 · DOI

  • Despite the importance of social and physical variables in promoting walking and biking as recreational activities, few studies have looked at how these domains simultaneously influence these activities.

    Walking and cycling as recreational activities and their associated factors · 2025 · DOI

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124 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 3,703 Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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