Response Error in Self-Reported Recreation Participation

The research reported in this paper addresses a fundamental question underlying self-report surveys; how accurately do individuals recall the recreation activities in which they have participated? The three research questions were: (1) What is the pattern and amount of response error? (2) What are some explanatory factors for response error? (3) To what extent does survey (self-reported) response predict actual swimming frequency?The results indicate a large amount of response overestimation of actual participation. An important finding concerning the distribution of self-reports is that almost all estimates of frequency of participation, except for very small estimates, were numbers ending in 0 or 5. With regard to the second research question, the results indicate that the importance of swimming as to leisure activity to the respondent is moderately and positively related to the percent error of estimation. The prediction of actual participation from self-reports of participation, the third research question, produced mixed results.