Methodological issues in measuring crowding-related norms in outdoor recreation

Based on theoretical and methodological similarities between research on recreation-related norms and contingent valuation, three methodological issues-question format, starting point bias, and information bias-are explored as they apply to measuring crowding-related norms of visitors to two national parks. Few statistically or substantively significant differences in crowding-related norms were found to be associated with these methodological issues. Study findings suggest that measures of crowding-related norms may be relatively "robust," and this may add weight to the "validity" of the theory and methods associated with crowding-related norms in outdoor recreation.