Linking Culture and the Environment

R.J. Payne et al. 87
North Community Economic Development Corporation (Twynam et al.,
1997). The results from the forums concerning people’s views of tourism on
the north shore and in the north shore islands were also directed to the Boreal
West Round Table (as part of the Lands for Life land-use planning process)
and to Parks Canada (as part of the public consultations on the then proposed
Western Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area).
Six forums were held across the region, one each in Terrace Bay, Pays
Plat, Rossport, Nipigon, Red Rock and Silver Islet. The forums were advertised
on local radio and in the local press in advance. In addition, known
opinion leaders in the communities were invited to attend. Attendance varied
widely: 44 people turned out in the cottage community of Silver Islet; only
two attended the forum at Pays Plat, a First Nation reserve.
Participants at each forum completed a questionnaire that sought information
on their involvement with, and attitudes towards, tourism in the
region. In addition, participants discussed questions and issues about tourism
in the region put to them by facilitators in each forum. These qualitative
data were recorded in writing and on audio tape by the researchers.
Data
The data collected were of two types. Quantitative data were collected about
participants in the forums in order to develop a participant profile and to
determine attitudes towards tourism in the region. This approach produced
92 completed questionnaires. The surveys completed by participants at the
beginning of each forum provided quantitative data, including social and
demographic variables such as gender, age and length of residence in the
region. In addition, participants responded to a Likert-style, 28 statement
section of the survey, based upon the TIAS Scale outlined by Lankford and
Howard (1994), on their attitudes towards tourism in the region.
Qualitative data were gathered in order to delve more deeply into tourism
issues.
Capturing the qualitative data was a three-step process:
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first, participants at each forum were divided into two groups, each with
a facilitator who focused discussion through a series of predetermined
questions and who wrote participant responses on a flip chart;
second, rapporteurs (Payne, Johnston and Twynam) took notes during the
discussions; and
third, each session was recorded on audio tape.
Analysis
The analysis of the quantitative data utilized frequencies in communicating a
profile of the forum participants. More complex analyses, using principal components
analysis, K-means cluster analysis and discriminant analysis in SPSS
for Windows, were employed to determine whether there were meaningful