National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife ... - All About Birds

In the 1991 Survey, an attempt wasmade to contact every sample personin all three detailed interview waves.In 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011respondents who were interviewedin the first detailed interview wavewere not contacted again until thethird wave (unless they were part ofthe other subsample, i.e., a respondentin both the sportsperson and wildlifewatching subsamples could be in thefirst and third wave of sportspersoninterviewing and the second and thirdwave of wildlife watching interviewing).Also, all interviews in thesecond wave were conducted only bytelephone. In-person interviews wereonly conducted in the first and thirdwaves. The 2011 wave 3 screen phasewas composed of both telephone andin-person interviews.Section I. Important InstrumentChanges in the 1996 Survey1. The 1991 Survey collectedinformation on all wildlife-relatedrecreation purchases made byparticipants without reference towhere the purchase was made. The1996 Survey asked in which statethe purchase was made.2. In 1991, respondents were askedwhat kind of fishing they did, i.e.,Great Lakes, other freshwater, orsaltwater, and then were askedin what states they fished. In1996, respondents were asked inwhich states they fished and thenwere asked what kind of fishingthey did. This method had theadvantage of not asking about, forexample, saltwater fishing whenthey only fished in a noncoastalstate.3. In 1991, respondents were askedhow many days they “actually”hunted or fished for a particulartype of game or fish and then howmany days they “chiefly” huntedor fished for the same type ofgame or fish rather than anothertype of game or fish. To get totaldays of hunting or fishing for aparticular type of game or fish, the“actually” day response was used,while to get the sum of all days ofhunting or fishing, the “chiefly”days were summed. In 1996,respondents were asked their totaldays of hunting or fishing in thecountry and each state, then howmany days they hunted or fishedfor a particular type of game orfish.4. Trip-related and equipment expenditurecategories were not the samefor all Surveys. “Guide fee” and“Pack trip or package fee” weretwo separate trip-related expenditureitems in 1991, while they werecombined into one category inthe 1996 Survey. “Boating costs”was added to the 1996 huntingand wildlife-watching trip-relatedexpenditure sections. “Heatingand cooking fuel” was added toall of the trip-related expendituresections. “Spearfishing equipment”was moved from a separatecategory to the “other” list. “Rods”and “Reels” were two separatecategories in 1991 but werecombined in 1996. “Lines, hooks,sinkers, etc.” was one categoryin 1991 but split into “Lines” and“Hooks, sinkers, etc.” in 1996.“Food used to feed other wildlife”was added to the wildlife-watchingequipment section, “Boats” and“Cabins” were added to thewildlife-watching special equipmentsection, and “Land leasingand ownership” was added to thewildlife-watching expendituressection.5. Questions asking sportspersons ifthey participated as much as theywanted were added in 1996. If thesportspersons said no, they wereasked why not.6. The 1991 Survey includedquestions about participation inorganized fishing competitions;anglers using bows and arrows,nets or seines, or spearfishing;hunters using pistols or handgunsand target shooting in preparationfor hunting. These questions werenot asked in 1996.7. The 1996 Survey included questionsabout catch and releasefishing and persons with disabilitiesparticipating in wildliferelatedrecreation. These questionswere not part of the 1991 Survey.8. The 1991 Survey included questionsabout average distancetraveled to recreation sites. Thesequestions were not included in the1996 Survey.9. The 1996 Survey includedquestions about the last trip therespondent took. Included werequestions about the type of trip,where the activity took place, andthe distance and direction to thesite visited. These questions werenot asked in 1991.10. The 1991 Survey collected dataon hunting, fishing, and wildlifewatching by U.S. residentsin Canada. The 1996 Surveycollected data on fishing and wildlife-watchingby U.S. residents inCanada.Section II. Important instrumentchanges in the 2001 Survey1. The 1991 and 1996 single racecategory “Asian or PacificIslander” was changed to twocategories “Asian” and “NativeHawaiian or Other PacificIslander”. In 1991 and 1996, therespondent was required to pickonly one category, while in 2001the respondent could pick anycombination of categories. Thenext question stipulated that therespondent could only be identifiedwith one category and then askedwhat that category was.2. The 1991 and 1996 land leasingand ownership sections asked therespondent to combine the twotypes of land use into one and givetotal acreage and expenditures. In2001, the two types of land usewere explored separately.3. The 1991 and 1996 wildlifewatchingsections included questionson birdwatching for aroundthe-homeparticipants only. The2001 Survey added a question onbirdwatching for away-from-homeparticipants. Also, questions on theuse of birding life lists and howmany species the respondent canidentify were added.4. “Recreational vehicles” was addedto the sportspersons and wildlifewatchersspecial equipmentsection. “House trailer” was addedto the sportspersons special equipmentsection.5. Total personal income was askedin the detailed phase of the 1996Survey. This was changed to totalU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Census Bureau 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation 111