2024 Partcipants
A Validation Study of Participants Demographics for the East Bay Regional Park District Interpretive and Recreation Services Program
Faculty advisor/course instructor: Aiko Yoshino
Entry #19
The purpose of the study is to examine the validity of data gathered by the East Bay Regional Park District (Park District) that aims to understand Interpretive and Recreation Services (I&R) programs participant enrollments and their demographics. To develop evidence-based policies and allocate funding appropriately, it is vital to gather accurate participant information. A common challenge for many large natural resource agencies, such as EBRPD, is gathering park users’ demographic data with high levels of validity and reliability (e.g., gender, ethnicity, income levels, age).
This study aims two-folds:
- To assess how the I&R programs currently gather, maintain, clean, analyze, and apply participant demographic data.
- To review literature and other agency protocols to identify promising practices that support high levels of reliability and validity across human service agencies (parks, open space, public health agencies).