The Ozark National Scenic Riverways (ONSR) has seen a wide range of recreationists since its establishment in 1964. To better understand these recreationists, Experience Use History (EUH) has been identified as a measure of exposure to ONSR. EUH is a construct used to identify how often a visitor frequents an area, as well as his or her history with that area. The purpose of this study is to identify the changes in river user demographics over the past 24 years and how these changes relate to EUH using time series analyses. Study field methods follow procedures of Rapid Assessment Visitor Inventory (RAVI), which has been periodically conducted at ONSR since 1972. This study utilizes questionnaires for which raw data were available, collected from 1986 through 2010 to conduct time series analyses of visitor demographics and EUH. EUH groupings were created using the methods of Smith et al. (2009), resulting in the identification of Casual Newcomers, Casual Veterans, Occasional, and Frequent visitors. While a wealth of information exists pertaining to EUH and general demographics, there is an absence of studies analyzing the dynamic relationship of these variables over time. This research examines for the first time if EUH classifications are also time-dependent or if they are functionally stable at a quarter-century time scale. EUH trends over time showed that Casual Newcomers have begun to transition into Casual Veterans throughout the riverways as their history and frequency of visits increased over the years. Changes in age, watercraft type, and gender were also detected resulting in an aging visitor group to ONSR, an increase in motorboat use, and a slow increase in the proportion of female visitors. Experiences, preferences, and attitudes were also analyzed in terms of both EUH and river district. Finally, average distance traveled by visitors was also analyzed showing ONSR to be a regional attraction attended by both urban and nonurban visitors. Overall this study suggests that visitor populations to ONSR are dynamic. Some of the most important findings of this study showed that EUH category for a given visitor can and does change over time. The Casual Newcomers and Casual Veterans had clear trends; all three river districts showed distinct trends of increasing Casual Veterans and decreasing Casual Newcomers over time but at varying rates of change in proportion. This finding coupled with the aging of visitors to ONSR, suggests that visitors are returning to the riverways and, over time, increasing in experience, thus transforming the Casual Newcomers into Casual Veterans.

abstract: Crowding and satisfaction remain widely studied concepts among those seeking to understand quality visitor experiences. One area of interest in this study is how the order of crowding and satisfaction items on a survey affects their measurement levels. An additional area of interest is the influence of personality traits on experience-use-history, crowding, and satisfaction. This study used two versions of a survey: A) crowding measured prior to satisfaction and B) satisfaction measured prior to crowding, to explore the influence of item order on crowding and satisfaction levels. Additionally, the study explored the influence of personality traits (extraversion and neuroticism) and experience use history (EUH) on crowding and satisfaction. EUH was included as a variable of interest given previous empirical evidence of its influence on crowding and satisfaction. Data were obtained from an onsite self-administered questionnaire distributed to day use visitors at a 16,000 acre desert landscape municipal park in Arizona. A total of 619 completed questionnaires (equally distributed between the two survey versions) were obtained. The resulting response rate was 80%. One-way ANOVA's indicated significant differences in crowding and satisfaction levels with both crowding and satisfaction levels being higher for survey version B. Path analysis was used to test the influence of personality traits and EUH on crowding and satisfaction. Two models, one for each version of the survey were developed using AMOS 5. The first model was tested using data in which crowding was measured prior to satisfaction. The second model relied on data in which satisfaction was measured prior to crowding. Results indicated that personality traits influenced crowding and satisfaction. Specifically, in the first model, significant relationships were observed between neuroticism and crowding, neuroticism and EUH, EUH and crowding, and between crowding and satisfaction. In the second model, significant relationships were observed between extraversion and crowding, extraversion and satisfaction, and between EUH and satisfaction. Findings suggest crowding and satisfaction item order have a potential to influence their measurement. Additionally, results indicate that personality traits potentially influence visitor experience evaluation. Implications of these findings are discussed. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Recreation and Tourism Studies 2011

Fourier transform infrared emission spectra of MnH and MnD were observed in the ground <em>X</em>⁷&sigma;⁺ electronic state. The vibration-rotation bands from <em>v</em> = 1 to 0 to <em>v</em> = 3 to 2 for MnH, and from <em>v</em> = 1 to 0 to <em>v</em> = 4 to 3 for MnD were recorded at an instrumental resolution of 0. 0085 cm^-1. Spectroscopic constants were determined for each vibrational level and equilibrium constants were found from a Dunham-type fit. The equilibrium vibrational constant <em>&omega;_e</em> for MnH was found to be 1546. 84518(65) cm^-1, the equilibrium rotational constant <em>B_e</em> was found to be 5. 6856789(103) cm^-1 and the equilibrium bond distance <em>r_e</em> was determined to be 1. 7308601(47) Å. <br /><br /> New high resolution emission spectra of CoH and CoD molecules have been recorded in the 640 nm to 3. 5 <em>µ</em>m region using a Fourier transform spectrometer. Many bands were observed for the <em>A</em>^'3&phi;-<em>X</em>³&phi; electronic transition of CoH and CoD. In addition, a new [13. 3]4 electronic state was found by observing the [13. 3]4- <em>X</em>³&phi;₃ and [13. 3]4-<em>X</em>³&phi;₄ transitions in the spectrum of CoD. Analysis of the transitions with &delta;&omega; = 0, ±1 provided more accurate values of spin-orbit splittings between &omega; = 4 and &omega; = 3 components. The ground state for both molecules was fitted both to band and Dunham-type constants. The estimated band constants of the perturbed upper states were also obtained. <br /> <br /> The emission spectrum of gas-phase YbO has been investigated using a Fourier transform spectrometer. A total of 8 red-degraded bands in the range 9 800 ? 11 300 cm^-1 were recorded at a resolution of 0. 04 cm^-1. Because of the multiple isotopomers present in the spectra, only 3 bands were rotationally analyzed. Perturbations were identified in two of these bands and all 3 transitions were found to terminate at the <em>X</em>¹&sigma;⁺ ground electronic state. The electronic configurations that give rise to the observed states are discussed and molecular parameters for all of the analyzed bands are reported. <br /><br /> Electronic spectra of the previously unobserved EuH and EuD molecules were studied by means of Fourier transform spectroscopy and laser-induced fluorescence. The extreme complexity of these transitions made rotational assignments of EuH bands impossible. However, the spin-spin interaction constant, &lambda;, and Fermi contact parameter, <em>b</em>_F, in the ground <em>X</em>⁹&sigma;^- electronic state were estimated for the ¹⁵¹EuH and ¹⁵³EuH isotopologues. <br /><br /> Electronic spectra of SmH, SmCl, TmH and ErF molecules were recorded for the first time using Fourier transform spectrometer. The poor signal to noise ratio of the observed bands coupled with their complexity prevented a rotational analysis. The electronic states that may be involved in the observed transitions are discussed.

Fourier transform infrared emission spectra of MnH and MnD were observed in the ground <em>X</em>⁷&sigma;⁺ electronic state. The vibration-rotation bands from <em>v</em> = 1 to 0 to <em>v</em> = 3 to 2 for MnH, and from <em>v</em> = 1 to 0 to <em>v</em> = 4 to 3 for MnD were recorded at an instrumental resolution of 0. 0085 cm^-1. Spectroscopic constants were determined for each vibrational level and equilibrium constants were found from a Dunham-type fit. The equilibrium vibrational constant <em>&omega;_e</em> for MnH was found to be 1546. 84518(65) cm^-1, the equilibrium rotational constant <em>B_e</em> was found to be 5. 6856789(103) cm^-1 and the equilibrium bond distance <em>r_e</em> was determined to be 1. 7308601(47) Å. <br /><br /> New high resolution emission spectra of CoH and CoD molecules have been recorded in the 640 nm to 3. 5 <em>µ</em>m region using a Fourier transform spectrometer. Many bands were observed for the <em>A</em>^'3&phi;-<em>X</em>³&phi; electronic transition of CoH and CoD. In addition, a new [13. 3]4 electronic state was found by observing the [13. 3]4- <em>X</em>³&phi;₃ and [13. 3]4-<em>X</em>³&phi;₄ transitions in the spectrum of CoD. Analysis of the transitions with &delta;&omega; = 0, ±1 provided more accurate values of spin-orbit splittings between &omega; = 4 and &omega; = 3 components. The ground state for both molecules was fitted both to band and Dunham-type constants. The estimated band constants of the perturbed upper states were also obtained. <br /> <br /> The emission spectrum of gas-phase YbO has been investigated using a Fourier transform spectrometer. A total of 8 red-degraded bands in the range 9 800 ? 11 300 cm^-1 were recorded at a resolution of 0. 04 cm^-1. Because of the multiple isotopomers present in the spectra, only 3 bands were rotationally analyzed. Perturbations were identified in two of these bands and all 3 transitions were found to terminate at the <em>X</em>¹&sigma;⁺ ground electronic state. The electronic configurations that give rise to the observed states are discussed and molecular parameters for all of the analyzed bands are reported. <br /><br /> Electronic spectra of the previously unobserved EuH and EuD molecules were studied by means of Fourier transform spectroscopy and laser-induced fluorescence. The extreme complexity of these transitions made rotational assignments of EuH bands impossible. However, the spin-spin interaction constant, &lambda;, and Fermi contact parameter, <em>b</em>_F, in the ground <em>X</em>⁹&sigma;^- electronic state were estimated for the ¹⁵¹EuH and ¹⁵³EuH isotopologues. <br /><br /> Electronic spectra of SmH, SmCl, TmH and ErF molecules were recorded for the first time using Fourier transform spectrometer. The poor signal to noise ratio of the observed bands coupled with their complexity prevented a rotational analysis. The electronic states that may be involved in the observed transitions are discussed.