Estimating Recreational Boater Expenditures on Trips and Boating Use in a Wave Survey

Abstract

This study developed methodological refinements for estimating both annual use and trip expenditures of recreational boaters using a single survey. Data were collected through sample survey of Michigan registered boat owners. An in-season survey was utilized to estimate boating activity and trip spending. Surveys were sent out in nine waves every week over the 1998 summer. Annual use per boat was estimated by applying a logistic model to the average days of use obtained from the in-season survey. At the end of the boating season, two distinct end-of-season surveys were conducted with smaller samples to evaluate potential nonresponse bias and use estimates from the in-season survey. The average use estimated from the wave survey was not statistically different than the mean use estimated from the season-end survey. The composition of respondents was also compared with that of nonrespondents on characteristics that are relevant to trip spending to show no conclusive evidence of nonresponse bias. The study also refined the treatment of zeros and missing values on spending by defining what a trip was, making it easier to explicitly report no spending via a checkbox, and by distinguishing between day outings and overnight trips.