Early adolescent male participation in organized leisure activity in New Zealand: sociological research and theory

Abstract

What follows here is my thesis for a Master of Arts degree in Sociology. Culminating from field work, library research, and nearly three years of thought, which in some instances was more headache than thought, I must first confess that had it not been for the research responsibility I accepted from the Scout Association of New Zealand and some help from friends, I may have never reached this far. Nevertheless, I agreed, in conjunction with a fellow postgraduate student, to study the leisure activity of early adolescent boys in this country. The Scout Association was concerned with declining membership figures among boys of Scout age or about 11 to 15 years, and members of this organization wanted to know how Scouts related to or failed to relate to boys use of leisure time. Study methods included a questionnaire and a time diary distributed during school time to a sample of 1200 boys in different regions of the country, conversational and structured interviews with boys and adult leaders of youth organisations, and observation of boys and adults in the context of organized activity such as club sport. A study report containing descriptive information was completed 1976, about two years after the project was initially conceived.