Assistance required with research on recreational divers, Sydney area

8th June 2006

Forum www.underwater.com.au

Dear Forum readers

My name is Bob Gidlow. I work at Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand, where I teach and research in the area of leisure from a social science perspective.

In July and August this year I will be based at UTS (University of Technology), Sydney. During that time, I hope to interview male recreational divers, fishers and hunters, some of whom will belong to clubs, but not all of whom need to do so. The men will need:

• to have a continuity of involvement in the activity (i.e., not be 'first-timers');

• at least some of their involvement needs to involve trips, i.e., time away from home for a number of days, such as ‘long weekends’;

• they will also need to be 'family' men (i.e., married or de facto and with children living in the family home with them).

My main interest is not in the 'heroic exploits' of divers, fishers and hunters, so I am not necessarily seeking the participation of those who catch the biggest fish or get the biggest trophy heads or make the deepest dives. Mr 'Joe Average'- fisher, -diver, -hunter, who goes on trips which take him away from home for a number of days/nights at a time, will do me fine!

Because I only have two months in Sydney to conduct my research, I need to 'hit the ground running', and I am therefore approaching clubs and organisations representing recreational fishers, divers and hunters in the hope that this may be one way to obtain the names and contact details of possible participants.

All information will be treated in confidence and the results will be published in such a form that individual participants cannot be identified.

In return for assistance, I would be pleased to post provisional results on this website at the end of my stay in Sydney and to update this information as comparative research on recreational divers, fishers and hunters gets underway in New Zealand later this year.

If you believe you ‘fit’ the profile above and are prapred to help me, please e-mail me on gidlow@lincoln.ac.nz

Contributed by BOBG added 2006-06-07