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Phase III: Survey Research Report

Knowledge and Participation of Animal Assisted activities Among the RCLS 425 Students
Cathryn Bouchard, Candice Snyder, Elizabeth Otis
Eastern Washington University
1 June 2016

Phase III: Survey Research Report

Methodology
From coding all of our transcribed data, there were four main themes that were
encapsulated in our focus group. The four themes were stress, awareness, effects, and settings.
For the purpose of our survey, we focused mainly on three themes; stress, effects and awareness
of animal assisted activities among RCLS 425 students. We asked what stressors the students
have in their lives during our focus group and then incorporated it into our survey because we
wanted to see if we got the same results but with a larger sample of people. We also wanted to
see if the students of RCLS 425 use animal assisted activities to manage their stress. We chose to
expand on the effects theme from our focus group because it would provide our group with a
general idea if the students thought animal assisted activities are beneficial through personal
experience or knowledge. The third theme, awareness, is intertwined within multiple questions
that also include the themes of stress and effects of animal assisted activities. Please refer to
Appendix A for the complete survey.
Our survey consisted of a total of sixteen questions with various formats. A type of
structure we used to format our question was fill in the blank because it avoided the issue of
restricting our participants. We used the fill in the blank question for our
demographic/background portion. Another structure we used was the Likert scale format. This
gave us, as researchers, the ability to find the descriptive statistics. With the descriptive statistics
we will be able to find mode, median, mean, variance, and standard deviation which will make
our findings more reliable among the RCLS 425 students. By utilizing the Likert scale format, it
made the answering process for the participants quicker and easier.

Six out of the sixteen questions gathered nominal level data. The nominal level data does
not allow the analysis to overlap the categories (Henderson & Bialeschki, 2010, p. 261). The
questions that were nominal level data are gender and major for our demographics. Also
questions number two, five, nine, and eleven are all known as nominal level data because of the
lack of descriptive statistics they provide.
Ten of the sixteen questions are considered interval level data because they all provide
descriptive statistics; mode, median, mean, variance and standard deviation. With the descriptive
statistics we are able to compare and find distance between values (Henderson & Bialeschki,
2010, p. 262). Because of the convenient sampling provided, we knew that most of our surveys
would be returned with useful data pertaining only to RCLS 425 class. Unfortunately, with using
convenient sampling we cannot draw valid conclusion outside of our RCLS 425 class
(Henderson & Bialeschki, 2010, p. 128).
We ordered the questions by relevant material. All the demographics were next to each
other and were placed at the beginning of the survey. We started broad by putting all the
questions not talking about animal assisted activities towards the beginning. We transitioned to
more specific content about animal assisted activities and put them next to each other. Then we
put all of the Paws & Relax questions next to each other. Most of these questions were Likert
scale.
Analysis
Nominal Data
Please refer to Table 1 for gender breakdown within the RCLS 425 class. This question
was one of the first demographic questions we included in our survey. It is also at the nominal

level data because there are no overlaps in the data. Therefore, this level of data can only provide
information for mode, frequency and percentage of the data.
Table 1
Question #2: Gender
Gender

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Female

27

64%

Male

20

34%

Other

2%
N= 58

M= 27, 64%

Please refer to Table 2 for information on majors in the RCLS 425 class. This question is the
second demographic question. This is also nominal level data because of the limited data we are
able to pull from it.
Table 2
Question #3: Major
Major

Frequency

Percentage (%)

Outdoor Recreation

12

36%

Recreation Management

23

40%

Therapeutic Recreation

21

21%

Other

3%

N= 58

Interval Data

M=23, 40%

Please refer to Table 3 for the interval level data on Question 12, would participating in
an animal assisted activity (AAA) contribute to the reduction of stress? We utilized Likert scales
for this question because we are able to compare distance between values (Henderson &
Bialeschki, 2010, p. 262). For this particular question, Likert scale was from one to five. One
meaning Not At All, two meaning A little, three meaning Neutral, four meaning
Moderate, five meaning Extremely. We rounded the values to the nearest tenth.
Table 3
Question #12: Participation of AAA and Reduction of Stress
Mode

Median

Mean

3.7

N= 58

M= 5

Please refer to Table 4 for interval level data on Question 13, in your opinion are animal
assisted activities beneficial? We used Likert scale to gather the information for this question.
Likert scale was from one to five. One meaning Not At All, two meaning Somewhat, three
meaning Not Sure, four meaning Sometimes, five meaning Definitely Yes. The mean
between females and males were significantly different so we decided to include this
information. We rounded the values to the nearest tenth.

Table 4

Question #13: AAA Being Beneficial

Mode
5

Median
5

Mean
4.2

Mean (Females)
3.6

Mean (Males)
4.6

N=58

M=5

Please refer to Table 5 for interval level data on Question 10, Are animal assisted
activities something you would be interested in participating in? The Likert scale was from one
to five. One meaning Not interested, two meaning Somewhat, three meaning Neutral, four
meaning Interested, five meaning Highly Interested. From the information we received from
this interval level question we were able to get all the descriptive statistics required to find where
68% of our scores fell. Our data lies between 2.2 and 5 on the normal distribution curve. Values
are rounded nearest tenth.
Table 5
Question #10: Interest of Participation
Mode
5

Median
4

Mean
3.6
N= 46

Variance
1.8

Standard Deviation
1.4
M= 5

Conclusion
For Table 1, which refers to question two about gender. We concluded that out of the 58
participants within the RCLS 425 class, 64% were females and 34% were males, leaving the last
2% as Other. As shown in Table 2, which is the representation of the majors within the class, it
consisted of mostly Recreation Management and Tourism at 40%, Outdoor recreation at 36%,
Therapeutic Recreation at 21% and Other at 3%. Table 3 illustrates if the participation of animal
assisted activities helps with the reduction of stress. Out of the 58 participants who answered this

question, the mean was 3.7, putting the average response around neutral and moderate. Over
50% of the class replied that animal assisted activities does reduce stress Moderately or
Extremely. However the seven people that picked Not at All made the average go down
significantly. The mode and median were both 5 for animal assisted activities being beneficial.
We found it interesting that the averages between males and females differed by 1.0, which is a
significant difference. The females averaged 3.6, whereas the males averaged 4.6 with an overall
average of 4.2. This information means that about 75% of the class thought that animal assisted
activities are beneficial. Out of the 46 people that answered if they were interested in
participating in animal assisted activities, the mean response was 3.6, which is between neutral
and interested. Using the standard deviation and variance, the data illustrated 68% of the scores
fell between 2.2 and 5 on the normal distribution curve, which unfortunately shows that the
responses were all over the place.
Recommendations
Now that the project has come to an end, there are a couple of changes that we would
change in the focus group and survey. In the focus group, we would let the students answer on
their own without leading them to an answer that we felt was appropriate. Another
recommendation we had for during the focus group is that we would be more aware of the proper
terminology. For example, there was a switch between animal assisted activities and animal
assisted therapy. For the survey we would just change the structure of question 13. We formatted
it so the participant circled the actual word instead of having them circle the number that
represented that word. For example, instead of selecting the number 5 on the Likert scale they
selected Definitely yes. Although there are some definite changes that need to be made, our
focus group and survey were successful.

Appendix A

Animal assisted activities (AAA) are formal or informal activities that are meant to meet
specific criteria that gives opportunities to students or to people for a motivational,
educational, recreational or therapeutic benefits to enhance the quality of life.
Circle the response that best represents you.
Age? _________

Gender? ___________

Major? (Circle one)

Therapeutic Recreation
Outdoor Recreation
Other:___________

Recreation & Tourism Management

1. Rate your stress level on a daily basis. (1= No stress, 3= Moderate stress, 5= Extreme stress)
1
2
3
4
5
2. Circle the three most impacting stressors in your life.
School
Friends
Family
Finances
Future plans Health
Living situations
Job

Romantic Relationships
Other: ___________

3. What is your attitude towards animals in general?

(1=Highly dislike, 3= Neutral, 5= Highly like)
1
2
3
4
5
4. What is the emotional impact animals have on your life?
(1= No impact, 3=Neutral, 5= High impact)
1
2
3
4
5
Paws and Relax: A program EWU Student Activities Involvement & Leadership (SAIL) puts
on campus during the week before finals to help de-stress students through animal assisted
activities. They use various types of animals, mainly consisting of dogs.
5. Have you participated in animal assisted activities such as Paws & Relax or a similar event?
(Circle one)
Yes (Go to questions #6-#8)
No (Go to question #9-#10)
6. Rate your experience at the animal assisted activity.
(1= Terrible, 3= Neutral, 5=Excellent)
1
2
3
4
5
7. During the activity, could you feel your stress reducing?
(1=Not at all, 3= Neutral, 5= Highly)
1
2
3
4
5
8. Based on your experience would you recommend animal assisted activities?
(1=Definitely not, 3= Neutral, 5= Highly)
1
2
3
4
5

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9. If answered no to question #5, why? (Circle one)

Not enough advertising
Not interested
Conflicted with prior obligations
Other:_________
10. Are animal assisted activities something you would be interested in participating in?
(1= Not interested, 3= Neutral, 5= Highly interested)
1
2
3
4
5
Everyone answer the following
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. How often would you like to see Paws & Relax or an event similar on Campus? (Circle
one)
Never
Weekly
Bimonthly Monthly
Quarterly
12. Would participating in an animal assisted activity contribute to the reduction of stress? (1=
Not at all, 3= Neutral, 5= Extremely)
1
2
3
4
5
13. In your opinion are animal assisted activities beneficial? (Circle one)
Not at all
Somewhat
Not sure
Sometimes
Definitely yes
Thank you for your participation!

References

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Henderson, K. A., & Bialeschki, M. D. (2010). Evaluating leisure services: Making enlightened
decisions (3rd ed). State College, PA: Venture Publishing