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Final Blog (Prompts 9-10)

As this is a double-weighted post, you are to write twice as much as you usually do (I want this to be a substantive, original final series of posts). Please post one 1000-word blog post (+/-50 words) 

Please address the following prompts:

These three things I know for certain about outdoor recreation research:

The first thing I know for certain about the topic of outdoor recreation is that the main focus of the research is finding different types of recreational activities and determining what ways they benefit the greater community. I have learned during my time here at lakehead within the ORPT that outdoor recreation can be anything from going on a hike down some trails to participating in sea kayaking.

The second thing I am certain about is that with the recent struggles battling against Covid 19 which resulted in many classes being pushed to an online style of learning has taken away from the hands-on experience of the outdoor recreation program but this change has enhanced the technical skills such as writing and researching. I feel like without the push of online learning I would have no clue how to operate and live through a screen which is a very important skill to be confident while online as technology is improving and enhancing itself everyday!

The third and final thing I know for certain regarding outdoor recreation research is that ethics play a huge part. Without ethics the researcher has nothing to protect them from anyone reading their blog for example if there is a controversial topic but the researcher took consideration to the ethics while writing their blog the readers can’t complain about certain things as ethics were used in the creation of the blog.

These three things I am still confused by:

The First thing I am confused by is how this new knowledge I have gained throughout the course of the semester will help me in the future down my current career path. Currently my ideal career path is to become a second grade teacher ideally but any elementary grade would be something I enjoy. With regards to the majority of the course content which focused on different research methods, designing research questions, and creating a podcast to represent the information researched on a certain topic.

The second thing I am still confused by is operating the Tumblr website. Throughout the course of the semester I struggled with navigating the website as well as using all the different functions available. I feel like this strayed me away from completing my blogs as I got more frustrated trying to maneuver through the website than actually writing up the blog posts. An alternative for this difficult website could be the discussion function of the D2L.

The final thing I am still confused about is how I can use and relate the material from the textbook into my research questions and proposals without them sounding weird. Throughout the textbook there were many different terms which I was unfamiliar with and wouldn’t have known how to use before taking this class.

These three things I know for certain about me as an outdoor recreation researcher:

The first thing I know for certain is that depending on the situation different research methods such as qualitative and quantitative would be more appropriate and effective depending on the information I am trying to gain from the research for example if I’m trying to figure out information about how someone feels when something happens I would use qualitative research as this method gains valuable information about how the participants feel rather than just using the participants as a number for data.

The next thing I know for sure about me as a researcher is that the chances of it happening in my eyes right now are not very good based on my current plans which involve me going through my classes in order to teach elementary school which where I would be teaching research like this is not something they typically teach.

The third and final thing I know for sure about me as an outdoor recreation researcher is that based on my current knowledge and understanding of research I feel I am in no position to lead any sort of research study.

These three areas I need to spend time developing/learning in order to feel more confident in my skills: 

The first area I need to spend more time on developing my skills and learning is the research questions. I feel that if I can further develop my skills to create a variety of effective research questions both qualitative and quantitative it would enhance my research proposals and give me better information.

The second thing I believe I could improve upon would be my problem solving skills as well as my time management skills. Throughout the semester I often ran into problems while using the Tumblr website and creating my blog posts. For the blogs I felt the week that gave me the most problems would have been week 7 when we had to attend an academic seminar put on by other students here at lakehead university. During these seminars I felt extremely confused and unsure of all the different words being used and felt like I was not in the place to ask for definitions and explanations of just about every word as the presenters did not have much time as they rotated quickly. Next time I would try to attend something like this with a friend nearby so I could have someone translate and explain all the big words I don’t know.

The Final area I would like to work on is refining my research topic and finding different resources where I can find my information and getting more familiar with the different databases out there. I feel like finding research would be way easier if I was able to maneuver the different databases better. 

References:

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 3 Ethics in Social Research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 40 - 62). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 4 Reviewing the Scholarly Literature and Planning a Study. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 62 - 79). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 11 Analysis of Quantitative Data. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 234 - 261). essay, Pearson.

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 12 Qualitative Interviewing. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 261 - 278). essay, Pearson.

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Disney Princess Quiz

Blog Prompt #8 (Provided by Dr. Amanda Hooykaas):

Find an online survey/questionnaire/quiz that you can participate in (it does not need to be formal) and complete it – the quality and honesty of your responses is up to you... what we want to hear about is the actual quality of the survey. Do not select a formal, credible questionnaire that will actually lead to a diagnosis as those are often very scrupulous in their wording and have already been vetted extensively. Please critically evaluate the survey/questionnaire/quiz (please provide us with the link to the page where you found it). What is the context? How well are the questions written? Might there be variety/ambiguity in the responses that lead to poor results? What are some strengths and weaknesses? How might it be improved (accessibility, wording, length, promotion, etc.). Please reference the course notes, the textbook, and the article itself. Remember, I expect you to be demonstrating a robust understanding of the course material at this point in time!

The Quiz I chose to participate in was What Disney Princess are you? When Looking for a quiz to participate in I had difficulty choosing which one I wanted to do because there are so many fun and engaging quizzes available online. With the help of some of my friends I came to the conclusion that this was the quiz I had to do because they always call me a princess. This quiz consisted of a variety of questions regarding different aspects of life and personal opinion questions such as “what is your ideal room” and questions with a broader spectrum. Throughout this quiz I was unsure which princess I was going to get based on my answers and thought the questions were pretty good for creating a surprise aspect at the end of the quiz. However my friend who was sitting next to me thought otherwise as she was able to predict what princess I was going to be from halfway through the quiz. Some strengths that I noticed within this quiz included the number of questions within the quiz as it kept me engaged throughout. Also having six possible answers for each question was nice to have a variety to choose from. Some things I didn’t like during this quiz included how I was unsure how many questions I had left to answer as it never displayed that information for me and that abundance of ads across the website made it difficult to focus and get back to the questions after each one was submitted.  

Oh and for those of you who were wondering, the Disney Princess I resemble the most is……… Rapunzel!!!

Image Credit: Disney

References:

Which disney princess are you? Heywise. (2020, August 12). Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://heywise.com/quiz/which-disney-princess-are-you/?hwscore=1 

Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2018). Chapter 8: Survey research. In Basics of Social Research Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches (4th Canadian Edition, pp. 161- 191). Pearson.

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Blog post 6

Blog Prompt #6 (Provided by Dr. Amanda Hooykaas): You have five minutes to interview a key thinker who represents your field of inquiry (for the podcast project). To do this you must:

1) Identify who you are interviewing and why

2) List five clear interview questions (and what insight you hope to get out of each)

3) Provide a brief overview/summary that discusses how you decided on these questions

The individual I plan to interview is Dr. Craig Paiement, an outdoor recreation professor here at Lakehead University. I plan to interview Craig because I feel like he is full of knowledge and very well respected among the outdoor recreation community.

1. Within your knowledge and experience what ways have you seen benefits from participation in an outdoor recreation scene?

Asking this question will allow me to gauge where the interviewee stands with regards to his current knowledge and will allow for him to give his perspective on how outdoor recreation can benefit students at the university level. With this being an open ended question hopefully the interviewee will elaborate into other questions and points that I have.

2. How have you noticed the affects the pandemic has had on participation in outdoor recreation especially for university students?

The purpose of this question is to gain information from a different perspective compared to my own as since the interviewee is a professor they are exposed to different angles of the same situation which the normal student wouldn’t see. 

3. What do you associate with when you hear the term outdoor recreation?

The intent of this question is hoping to see what different words and activities are connected when someone hears the term outdoor recreation. By asking this I will gain knowledge of different perspectives on what people think of when the term comes to mind. Before I joined outdoor recreation just hearing the term I would just assume it's just camping but since taking several outdoor recreation classes I have learned that it is actually so much more! 

4. What resources do you know about on campus and in Thunder Bay that are available to students?

This question will reveal different opportunities directly on the lakehead campus and within the area of thunder bay so students will learn of new activities and potentially clubs they may be interested in joining. This question also gives the interviewee the opportunity to speak on any clubs or organizations they may have been involved with in the past. 

5. What is the most cost effective activity to get into in your opinion?

The goal of this specific question is to determine what activities are the most cost effective to get into for someone who is new to the outdoor recreation community and not sure what to get involved with. I hope to gain valuable information on different activities and how each of them can have a positive impact on participants' daily life.

I came up with these questions because I felt that since they were mostly open ended questions they would open up a new conversation as well as add onto the other questions asked. These questions would also help contribute to my podcast group and give us first hand information which we can discuss and break down.

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Blog Prompt #5 (provided by Dr. Amanda Hookyaas):

Find a written article (newspaper, magazine, etc.) from this past week and critically evaluate it (please provide us with the link – topic is yours to choose). What was the key message? What might their sources have been? (Suggest sources if there aren't any provided.) How might they have been evaluated? How were they validated/verified (which techniques were used/could have been used)? What expectations/responsibilities might the consumer have in reviewing this article? Please reference the course notes, the textbook, and the article itself. Remember, we expect you to be demonstrating a robust understanding of the course material at this point in time!

My response:

The news article that I chose to critically evaluate is A Thunder Bay logging crew rescued a moose that went through the ice reported by Gary Rine, a TBnewswatch.com reporter. This article recently came to my attention while I was completing my placement hours at a local public school as each morning they discuss the daily news going on around the world and within Thunder Bay. 

Photo credit: Byron Holbik/Facebook

This article is focused on a moose that was rescued from the waters of Upper Lake Windigoostigwan where the moose broke through the ice. The moose was spotted by a logging crew traveling in the area when one of the members of the crew noticed the stranded moose and decided to take action, "As soon as I heard about it, I said 'I'm going down there. I'll save that moose,' " Byron Holbik told TBNewswatch when they reported the situation. The logging crew who saved the moose consisted of Byron Holbik, Darren Whalley, Mark Wellington and Jordan Hay. They knew the moose wouldn't survive the ordeal without help so they went down and cut the ice and directed the moose in the direction of shallower waters so the moose would be able to stand and escape from the cold waters. This information can be viewed as a credible source as they have video footage of the moose being rescued from the icy cold waters.

The sources for this article come from a primary source as the logging crew were directly involved in the situation and had first hand experience saving the moose from the waters and they were the people who were interviewed regarding the video posted on facebook from Byron Holbik.

The viewers of this article can learn a lot about the challenges that some animals such as moose experience which would go unnoticed to most people including thin ice breaking and the icy cold waters.

Reference:

https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/video-a-thunder-bay-logging-crew-rescued-a-moose-that-went-through-the-ice-5040899

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How Sports Betting Enhances Your Experience Watching Sports

My blog post this week is about something that has been on my mind lately and based on how often I watch different sporting events the main thing I have been thinking of lately is how sports betting enhances your experience watching sports. Sports betting is something that I personally have been interested in for about a year now for several reasons. The main two reasons why I got into sports betting was that it enhances my experience while watching any given sporting game, for example if the two worst teams in the league are playing typically it's a game not many people would be interested in watching but that's where the betting aspect comes into play and gives the viewer something to look forward to and get more engaged with the game. The other major attraction within sports betting is the ability to win money which is extremely appealing to everyone as everyone wants to win money.

Sports betting within Canada and the United States is now becoming extremely popular amongst many people as it is becoming more accessible for people to participate. In Canada there are different forms of betting you can play for example you can bet on the Pro Line through OLG which you can buy your ticket at any gas station or convenience store that sells OLG tickets. The other way you can place your bets on different sporting events is through mobile apps such as Betway Sports or Bet365. Betting through mobile apps is more popular amongst people as you can place your bets for different events at any place or time.

My experiences when sports betting has enhanced my watching experience. When watching sports now I almost always place a little bet on something within the game as it totally changes the way you watch the game. If I had to explain how it felt watching the game when you bet on it I would say it feels like you're watching your favourite team every game as you will be fully involved with the team cheering when they score or make a big play compared to just sitting back and watching two teams play. The reason betting on sporting events enhances your experience watching them is because of the risk vs reward factor, for example if you bet five dollars on a team to win you become very invested into every aspect of that game because nobody wants to lose five dollars and if your team wins you could win ten dollars.

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Awesome post Drew! The way you summarized the video was very well done and I loved hearing your views on this case study! 

I totally agree with your point about the invisible backpack of the filmmakers and how it wasn’t really made clear or mentioned. In the video they briefly touched on how North Face was sponsoring them to make this video, and then talk to Agafia about her life, with their bias about living a certain lifestyle so much different than the rest of the world. 

I agree with your points on the ethical consideration of having a translator to break the language barrier and how Agafia might not have been fully aware of what the video was being used for or who all was going to see it. With regards to your point on technology I agree 100% technology is changing so quickly so it's likely there was a huge advancement in technology from the last time Agafia experienced it to the time the film was taken.

I agree with your point on what you would do if you had the opportunity to and honestly I feel like I would do almost the exact same thing you would do because I feel it is extremely important to connect with Agafia on a personal level compared to just the translator making the connection with her.

Once again a great post drew! 

~ Jake

Ethics in the Siberia Wilderness

This case study focuses on Agafia Lykov, an old woman who is one of the last Old Believers left in Russia. She lives alone at her family’s homestead in Taiga, Siberia, Russia. Agafia’s father, Karp, decided to leave the city fearing oppression from Stalin, because of his religion, in 1936. The family lived peacefully and alone with nature till 1978, when after ~40 years of isolation, a team of Russian geologists spotted their home from a helicopter and made the trek in to visit them a few days later. The three oldest children died from pneumonia, likely brought by the geologists, and after her father died in 1988, Agafia was the last Lykov alive (VICE, 2013). In 1997, Yerofei Sedov, a retired Russian geologist, moved into a cabin down a hill from Agafia, and they both have been living there since then, alone minus the visits from researchers, park officials, and videographers, like VICE.

This video is created and directed by the American branch of VICE, with support from North Face. The cameraman and their friend are likely from New York, or around there as that is where their journey to Agafia starts. In Moscow, they meet Gleb Lisicakin, the editor for VICE Russia, who acts as their translator and is one of the main people, along with Agafia, to appear in this video. The American filmmakers seem to know very little about Russia; we see them explore Abakan, well they wait for the call about the helicopter and their flight, but we don’t see anywhere in Moscow, minus Gleb talking to the desk attendant at the airport. The invisible backpack of the filmmakers is not directly identified or noted clearly in the video.

Many different research techniques are being employed in the making of this video. The research conducted is qualitative. It is qualitative research as the filmmakers are there to learn more about Agafia and her life, and they don’t have an end goal of what they want to learn or find out an exact result as quantitative research does.

A key ethical consideration that was a part of the production of this film was Agafia possibly not fully understanding that the video and what she was saying would be available to tons of people after it was made and put on YouTube. Agafia has only been to the city five times, and even if she did learn a lot about the technology available the last time she visited, it has likely changed and improved a lot since then, as technology has undergone multiple changes and improvements over the last decade. Along with her limited knowledge of technology and how many people use it, the language barrier between the filmmakers and her could have also affected her understanding of what they were doing even more. Yes, Gleb was there as a translator, but Agafia could have not known or understood all of what he was saying.

If I was given the same opportunity, I would likely also make a video like they did, as with Agafia’s permission you can show her home, along with pictures of her family just as the filmmakers did. Something different I would do is learn more about her daily life and her religion, if she was willing to tell me about it. Agafia also made it very clear she did not want to live in the city, but the filmmakers asked her a lot about if she would move, even after she explained about how she almost died there, which could make living in the city very traumatic for her. I might ask her once just to find out her thoughts on it, but would definitely not ask her again after, and instead focus on different parts of her life. After editing the footage, I would meet with Agafia again to show her the final video and get her opinion on it if she would like anything to not be included, along with asking again if she is still okay with the video being made and published so others can see it.

Reference:

VICE. (2013, April 9). Surviving in the siberian wilderness for 70 years (full length). YouTube. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68

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Surviving In The Siberian Taiga

This case study focused on Agafia Lykova and her experiences living in the Taiga of Siberia. A little background knowledge about Agafia, she has lived her whole life in this remote location in the Siberian Taiga when her father moved there in 1936 and during her time she has only left several times to go into the city. I believe the main research technique being employed is qualitative research as the research filmmakers main focus was documenting her experiences without having much of an effect on her daily life. Which I feel demonstrates qualitative research characteristics.

With regards to the invisible backpack I personally believe it is not directly implied but can be inferred by people with a greater understanding of technology. As the research filmmakers are creating this documentary you can infer that there is an invisible backpack between them and Agafia as they have grown up with and around technology meanwhile Agafia has a strong disbelief in technology and those who rely on it ability to survive without it.

Throughout this documentary there were many key ethics considerations throughout the course of the film and then one I am going to touch on is the translator. I like how they got a translator as an attempt to make communication between them and Agafia easier but I also think that they could have done more on their part by learning some russian words and the practices of the russian culture so they could directly connect with Agafia rather than having to go through the translator.

If I was given the same opportunity to conduct and then communicate my findings to a larger audience of peers I would also choose to make a video documentary as I feel it is the best way to represent Agafia's life while also considering the potential viewers of the video. Although if I was given the opportunity there would be some things I would do differently, first of all I would go more in depth with Agafia to truly understand her lifestyle and why she chose to live this way and learn about the practices she performs on a daily basis. The second thing I would focus on would be learning more about her culture as well as asking her if there is anything she would like to share with the world. The final thing I would choose to do differently would be staying for a longer period of time if Agafia would be alright with that, by staying for an extended period of time I feel that I would be able to create a better understanding of her life and how she survives in the Taiga of Siberia.

Reference:

VICE. (2013, April 9). Surviving in the siberian wilderness for 70 years (full length). YouTube. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt2AYafET68

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Firstly, what has drawn you to this academic program? Secondly, as a consumer of knowledge, who do you rely upon for information? Consider perhaps three or more "sources". How do you ensure this information is reliable? How does this relate to this program?

Hey everyone my name is Jake Brownrigg and I am currently in my second year in the outdoor recreation program with concurrent education. Unlike most of the other students within this program I don't possess the same outdoors background. What originally drew me to this program was when I attended a university fair at a local highschool and was checking out all the different schools with concurrent education and the individual running the lakehead booth introduced to me the ability to become a teacher without having to sit through boring lectures, instead I would get the opportunity to go camping and practice outdoor skills on my journey to becoming a grade 2 teacher and that sounded like a more fun path for me so here I am. Below is an image of one of my experiences so far within the course as we hiked the chest trail on the Sleeping Giant!

Sleeping Giant Provincial Park (Oct 22-24) - Jake Brownrigg

Personally for me the main sources I rely on as a consumer of knowledge would be the internet, textbooks, and my peers.

The Internet ~ This source for me is a common one to try to utilize as it is so accessible and has so much information, although I recognize that not all the information I obtain on the internet is true so I try my best to focus on the credible websites compared to just any website I come across. The other method I have become accustomed to is looking for academic sources and articles to use for my assignments.

Textbooks ~ Since coming to university I have quickly realized that some of the textbooks I have come across have been extremely helpful for completing assignments and also expanding my knowledge within the field of outdoor recreation. As I continue through this program I look forward to learning new skills and reading the different stories provided within the different textbooks.

My Peers ~ The third source I rely on for new information is my peers within the outdoor recreation program as many of them come from extensive outdoor backgrounds. During my two years here in the program so far whenever I have had any questions or difficulties grasping new techniques within the field my peers have always came to my rescue and helped me power through the struggles. 

I believe that these sources relate to the course we are in because it seems like we are learning about different ways to conduct research and then how to share the information you have found, and how to determine what is a good source of information vs something that might not be as reliable but was extremely accessible.

[jb-outd2511]

Hey zach! 

First of all, great post! Thats awesome that you were exposed to outdoor recreation activities such as kayaking and backcountry camping from such a young age, I wish I was able to experience them from a young age but I wasn’t so Im super excited to try all these new things out!  

Thats awesome that Silver Falls Provincial Park is your favourite location in Thunderbay. Personally I have never been there but it sounds like a great place that I definitely have to check out within the near future. With regards to the picture you took I would have to agree that it is a really cool photo and I’m interested in whether you have more photos from your time at Silver Falls Provincial Park as I would love to see them sometime!

I really enjoyed reading your perspectives on the different sources of gathering new information. For me I find it extremely difficult to avoid sources such as social media just because of how accessible and out there it is and it always seems to find a way to pop up onto my phone or computer. I also really enjoy using google scholar and the lakehead university database as reliable sources of new information. I’ve never heard of JSTOR but from your description it sounds like another good reliable source for information so I might just have to check it out.

Blog Post 1 Outdoor Recreation and Reliable Sources.

My experience in the outdoors started when I was just a little kid. I started off in scouts at a very young age and moved all the way up to the Adventures level in scouts. I spent most of my time outdoors doing various activities such as all-season camping, high-ropes, canoeing, kayaking, ziplining, backcountry camping, snowboarding, and travelling to other provinces. After my experience with scouts I stopped going to the organisation and I chose to do some solo experiences in grade 12. At that time I had no idea what I wanted to do after highschool so I stayed an extra year which allowed me to continue doing sports while taking a few more courses, although I was able to have more free time on my hands. I would plan and go on solo trips to Algonquin park all the time and do back-packing trips for the weekend. One of my teachers in high-school recommended that I should go to Lakehead University because I wanted to be a high-school teacher. My problem was that I had to idea what I wanted to do for my teachables. I applied and was accepted with History and English as my teachables. However, during the time I've spent at the school I noticed that the university offered an ORPT program. After my first year I switched to ORPT and it was one of the best decisions I made in my academic career. One of the most influential reasons as to why I switched was because many of my friends in first year are in ORPT. During my time in Thunder Bay I have gone on many hikes and have explored a variety of nearby areas. I have gone on camping trips and day hikes throughout the area and I have fallen in love with the land. One of my favourite places in Thunder Bay would have to be Silver Falls Provincial Park. I've spent a lot of time within this park from day hikes to night hikes and a weekend camping trip. The picture below is a cool photo I took while at the park.

Photo: Sliver falls. December 2019 by Zach Harris

When it comes to relying upon information, I look towards academic sources and stay away from social media. The only time I use social media is when I compare different sources to come up with my own understanding of a problem instead of being a sheep and following one side of the argument. I tend to stick to 3 sources that I use for assignments and or doing research on various topics. Many of these sources do not have a direct correlation to outdoor recreation. Moreover, these sources are beneficial for academic research and projects and they are sources that a student can rely on.

Lakehead University Library Databases. The Lakehead database is the main source used to obtain reliable information as it offers many scholarly articles, journals, and books for research purposes.

Google Scholar. Google Scholar is one of the largest databases to use for scholarly research. The reason being is that it will direct you to databases like the Lakehead database, but what is unique about google scholar is that most of the articles, journals, primary sources, and books are free. I tend to use this when I need to find some more information on the topic I am researching.

JSTOR. JSTOR is a database that I will use for history as it is only a history database. JSTOR provides primary sources and many other historical sources such as journals, books, notes, letters, and articles.