research methods in tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 14/02/2013 2 14/2/20131dr nicos rodosthenous

RESEARCH METHODS IN TOURISMNicos Rodosthenous PhD

14/02/20132

14/2/2013 1Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Review approaches and dimensions of leisure and tourism research

• Introduction:• The aim of this chapter is to introduce a number of

disciplines and examples by which leisure and tourism research is conducted.

• The chapter examines:• 1) Disciplinary traditions: reviews of a number of

academic disciplines and their approaches to leisure and tourism research, including sociology, economics, geography, psychology, social psychology, history and philosophy.

• 2) Cross-disciplinary dimensions: • -theoretical and applied research



• -theoretical and empirical research• -induction and deduction• -descriptive and explanatory research• -experimental and non- experimental

methods• -positivist and interpretive approaches• -quantitative and qualitative methods• Primary and secondary data



• An inter-disciplinary framework: consists of five main elements.

People Organizations Services/facilities/attractions The linkages between these three The physical environment within everything

takes place14/2/2013 4Dr Nicos Rodosthenous


• The linkages between people, organizations and services consist of three processes:

Link A-market research and political activity Link B-marketing, buying, selling, employing,

visiting/using services Link C-planning and investment• Disciplines in leisure and tourism studies: Psychology and social psychology are focussed on

people element, with links A &B. Political science is concerned with organizations and

with link A to the people



History can cover the whole system Economics at the macro-level with the whole system,

while micro-economics with link B Sociology with the people, with link A and

organizations Applied disciplines, planning, management, and

marketing are based in organizations and with links A & C.

Geography interacts with people and the environment Comprehensive social, economic and political systems

of thoughts encompass the whole system



• A. Sociology • 1) Social surveys and quantitative models• Sociology is concerned with explaining or understanding

social behavior of groups or classes of people through a social research.

• Most of the high-profile American research approach was normative mode with quantitative/modeling type, highly statistical and concerned with predicting numbers of participants and visits.

• 2) explaining why• ‘Surveys and modeling’ approach was challenged by

sociologists not interested in quantitative model and forecasting, but in the value of more sociological theory.



• Not just what people did with their leisure time but why and what leisure meant to them.

• The development of benefits and constraints approaches to leisure research in1980s, gained an input in planning and providing leisure services to maximise benefits.

• Constraints research focussed on the social, physical and economic factors.

• 3) Sociology of tourism: • Recreation research in N.America could equally be

seen as tourism research.



• Today, tourism research is characterised by a predominance of economic and marketing and related psychological research rather than sociological research.

• Sociological research can be divided into: The tourist Relations between tourists and locals Structure and functioning of the tourist system Social and environmental consequences of

tourism (leisure research in 1980s)



• Recently there is a tendency to move away from mass tourism and to examine specialised groups engaged in ‘special interest’ tourism, like eco-tourism, green tourism.

• B. Geography • Questions of geographical leisure and tourism

research refer to: where do people live, how do they view crowing and congestion, how do they make use of outdoor recreation areas?

• Recently, geographers overlap into sociology and bridge the gap between leisure and tourism.



• Have also linked the concept of lifestyle with census info to create “lifestyle maps”, as a mixture of geography and psychological research.

• C. Economics• How do incomes affect leisure expenditure?• How will a change in the exchange rate affect

international tourist arrivals?• Leisure and tourism products and services account 20-

30% of consumer spending.• Major focus of research in the economics of leisure has

been on the public sector.



• Research on “cost-benefit analysis”-ways of measuring both the full costs and the full benefits to society with a commercail facility like Disneyland.

• In most countries they produce forecasts of domestic and overseas tourists trips, based on economic models.

• D. Psychology/social psychology• What satisfactions do people obtain from their leisure?

What motivates people to engage in leisure activity?• Contribution of the psychology to leisure research can

be divided into four categories:



Motivation and needs (why people do what they do)

Satisfactions (particular types of leisure lead to differential levels of satisfaction)

Leisure as a state of mind (styles, social roles)Individual differences (gender, age, personality)• There is a link between psychology, consumer

research and market research, which is reflected on tourism markets and marketing.



• E. History and anthropology• Historical writing tends to jump from ancient

Greece to the industrial revolution in Europe. (case of Cyprus)

• Tourism is traced back to classical Greek and Roman times, to the emergence of the ‘grand tour’ in Europe in the 17-18th centuries.

• Anthropological research methods, however, emerge through ‘cultural studies’ in the form of ethnographical methods, which will be discussed in chapter 8 on qualitative methods.



• Approaches and dimensions Theoretical and applied research: theoretical research

draws conclusions about the phenomena being studied. Applied research creates new knowledge by applying existing theoretical knowledge to specific problems or issues.

Empirical and non-empirical research: Empirical research involves the collection and/or analysis of data-quantitative or qualitative, primary or secondary. Theoretical and empirical research coexist and enhance each other. Non-empirical contributions are needed to review and refine ideas and put the empirical work in context.



Induction and deduction: refer to alternative approaches to explanation in research. Research involves finding out and explaining, what is happening, how and why? It also involves description and collecting of info.

Inductive begin at point A, observation/description Proceed to point B, analysis Arrive at point C, explanation Deductive Begin at point A, with hypothesis Proceed to point A, observation/description, collecting data

to test the hypothesis



Proceed to point B, analysis, to test the hypothesis against the data.

(Case study 1 : Tennis vs Golf) Descriptive and explanatory research: i.e. a

descriptive research shows a tourist destination losing market share. Explanatory research would examine the reasons, price movements or ineffective marketing.



Positivist and interpretive research: In positivism the researcher sees people as phenomena to be studied from outside. The interpretive model sees people being studied to provide their own explanation.

Experimental and non-experimental methods involve the scientists attempting to control the environment by measuring the effects of change. i.e.to experiment in management by varying prices or advertising strategies in relation to leisure or tourism services. To study non-experimental methods it is necessary to study differences between people as they exist.



Primary and secondary data: planning a research to consider either to collect new info (primary data) or to use existing data (secondary data). i.e. official government statistics or financial records.

Self-reported and observed data: self reported data are the people’s own reports about themselves.( past behavior, attitudes and questionnaires). Observed data, i.e. to find out how many adults make use of a resort it would be better to watch them than try to ask them.



Qualitative and quantitative research: leisure and tourism research involves collection, analysis and presentation of statistical info. The quantitative approach involves statistical analysis and relies on numerical evidence to draw conclusions or to test hypotheses. Asking people to indicate levels of satisfaction with different services (1- dissatisfied, 5-very satisfied) is considered as qualitative approach.



Validity and reliability: validity is the extent to which the info collected by the researcher truly reflects the phenomenon being studied. Reliability is the extent to which research findings would be the same if the research were to be repeated at a later date or with a different sample of subjects.


research methods in tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 14/02/2013 2 14/2/20131dr nicos rodosthenous

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