Methods

During each meeting, those attending were allowed to walk through and read the posters. Post-it notes were available for attendees to post written comments on the posters. Members of the NCPS were at each meeting to answer any questions and record verbal testimony. NCPS members asked attendees if they had any questions or if they would like to make comments. The comments on the Post-it notes were entered into a database as were any verbal testimony. Content analysis was conducted on the written statements and verbal testimony.

An eight-page self administered survey and printouts of the posters were distributed to those attending the meetings. The survey consisted of 40 questions with a Likert Scale response format, i.e., a response scale ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree or highly acceptable to highly unacceptable. The Likert Scale response format allows for systematic tabulation of results and comparisons across questions.

The survey had several subcomponents. The first section of the survey presented hypothetical scenarios and asked a series of questions regarding each hypothetical scenario. The next sections asked a series of specific questions about walking on ski trails, issues revolving around permafrost, maintenance, acceptability of different ski trail allocations, the T-Field Road and lighting ski trails.

It is important to note that those who completed the survey were self-selected. The sampling frame consisted of only those who attended the meetings and took a survey, or was given a survey by someone who attended the meeting. Therefore, while the surveys are representative of those who attended the meetings, statements generalizing these results back to the broader population of UAF faculty, staff and students or the Fairbanks community cannot be made.

The data were analyzed in the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). The data analysis consisted of frequencies of responses, reliability analysis and scale construction where appropriate, and cluster analysis.

University of Alaska Fairbanks
Tanana Valley Campus
PO Box 8040-UAF

Phone: +1 907 474 7920
Fax:    +1 907 474 6725
fndlm5@uaf.edu