The studies of Kapuci (2004), Pereira et al. (2005), Yaslioglu (2007), and Cengiz et al (2012) formed the basis for the questionnaire forms.
According to Daniel and Terrell (1995) the following formula, applied for finite populations, was used to determine the sample size (Atici, 2012).
Z2xNxpxq
Nx D2 + Z2xpxq
– n = Sample size,
– Z = Confidence coefficient (z = 1.96 for 95% confidence level),
– N = Population size,
– p = Proportion of the sample in the population (as the proportion of the sample in the population was unknown initially and due to the lack of a preliminary investigation, values p and q were taken equal to each other and 50%)
– q = 1-p = 0.5,
– D = Sampling error (% 10)
(1.96)2 x6450x(0.5) x(0.5)
6450x (0.10)2 + (1.96)2x (0.5) x (0.5)
6194.58
n > ———–
65.4604
n > 95
According to this formula, the calculated value of "n" was 95. The questionnaire was presented by direct interviews to the local residents on weekdays and weekends within the period January-February 2011. The survey was conducted with 100 randomly selected people.
The questionnaire covered four issues: (i) personal information, (ii) local residents’ attitudes toward tourism in Amasra, (iii) local residents’ perspectives on the natural and cultural values of Amasra, (iv) local residents’ expectations of and suggestions for tourism planning and management strategies. The first set of questions was designed to obtain information on demographic variables like gender, age, residence, educational level and occupation and was composed of nine questions. The second set of questions was composed of 12 questions aimed at determining the local residents’ attitudes toward tourism, whereas the third set was composed of 5 questions on local residents’ perspectives on the natural and cultural values of Amasra. The final set was composed of 5 questions about the local residents’ expectations of and suggestions for the future tourism planning and management strategies. Total number of questions was 31.
The data obtained were analyzed by means of Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 16. Contingency tables were constructed and multiple choice questions were analyzed using Chi-square test to measure independence between groups.
