EFFECT OF VARIED QUESTION FORMAT ON BOATERS NORMS

Studies on recreationists' norms from different sites have reported di fferent percentages of recreationists who have norms, lending some to question whether such differences result from different question forma ts. A random sample of 365 boaters on the Clackamas River in Oregon wa s used to explore the effects of two formats on the presence of norms for three social impacts (encounters with other boaters, time waiting at launch site, and percentage of time in sight of other boaters) and on the level of agreement among those boaters who had personal norms. In a two-choice format, boaters could state a norm or indicate that th e impact did not matter to them. A three-choice format added a third o ption: ''The impact matters to me, but I cannot give a number.'' Betwe en 16 and 39% of boaters selected the third option, depending on the i mpact in question. The three-choice format resulted in Sewer bearers s aying they had norms, but also lowered the variability among those who gave norms.