The Use of Factorial Surveys in Leisure Research

Abstract

Since the foundational work of Rossi and Nock (1982), researchers have utilized factorial surveys to evaluate judgment and decision-making in a variety of subfields within sociology, psychology, law, and medicine. Despite the value of this approach to test hypotheses through quasi-experimental design using survey formats, its well-established presence in transdisciplinary literature, and its effective use across many contexts, factorial surveys remain relatively under utilized by leisure researchers. However, factorial surveys provide a useful way to evaluate a variety of judgment and decision-making-related leisure research problems. This paper introduces associated uses, concepts and techniques, strengths and limitations of the design, and considers its application in leisure research.