| Abstract: | Different approaches to outdoor recreation research influence how recreational values are articulated. The article presents a theoretical comparison between two recreation research traditions that have been influential in both Norwegian outdoor recreation research and American wilderness research and management. The authors compare how both research traditions fit two predefined valuation models, with one model oriented towards economists’ perception of values and the other oriented towards humanistic philosophy. They contend that the two research traditions are connected in their conceptual construct of values. Studies labelled ‘motivational recreation research’ fit with an economic-oriented value model, whereas ‘place-oriented recreation research’ puts greater emphasis on non-utilitarian values compatible with a constitutive value model. Consideration of the kind of values that a given research tradition promotes is very important for research outputs and management practice. |
