research methods in tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 21/02/2013 3 21/2/20131dr nicos rodosthenous

RESEARCH METHODS IN TOURISMNicos Rodosthenous PhD

21/02/20133

21/2/2013 1Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals.

• This chapter examines: Stages in the planning of research projects The formation and presentation of research

proposals Planning a research project A research plan or proposal must summarise how

a research project is to be conducted from beginning to the end.

It is divided into nine elements



1. Select a topic : may arise from a range of sources: a. Personal interest (sport, occupation ,history, future)b. Literature (leisure activity, social, georgaphical)c. Policy/management (very specific, i.e. leisure needs

of people, and not confidential)d. Social concern(the environmental impact of tourism)e. Popular/media (popular beliefs or conceptions, i.e.

sporting crowd violence)f. Published research agendas (in the field of tourism)g. Brainstorming (means of exploring the potential of a-f

above.



2. Review the literature: process of identifying previously published research relevant to the topic of interest (source of ideas, information on research already done)

3. Devise a conceptual framework: involves concepts and hypothesised relationships between them in four elements: explore/explain relationships between concepts, identify, define and operationalise concepts.



• Example of conceptual framework in tourism• Relates to leisure participation decision-

making, including the decision to take a holiday.

• Often research is part of a specific management task, i.e. marketing study, or customer service quality study.



4. Decide research questions : Research project can be expressed:

A question requires an answer A problem requires a solution A hypothesis as a statement must be proved true

or false. Case study 1: Why have visitor levels declined in

the last two years at Cyrpus?



5. List information needs: research questions and conceptual frame work provide a list of information needs or requirements.

i.e. a market profile could involve age and socio-economic group.



6.Decide research strategy: Development of a research strategy involves making decisions on a number of aspects to:

Identify project elements/stages Decide info gathering techniques to be used Decide data analysis techniques to be used Decide budget Draw up timetable21/2/2013 14Dr Nicos Rodosthenous


7. Obtain ethics clearance : when the research involves human subjects, in both biological and social sciences.

-code of ethics- protecting the rights of human and animals involved in a research in the principles:

a. That no harm should befall the research subjectsb. That subjects should take part freelyc. That subjects should take part on the basis of

informed consent.



On the researcher there is an obligation to ensure confidentiality of any data collected.

8. Conduct research: every item of information collected should have a purpose to answer specific questions.

9.Report findings: the writing of a research report can begin as soon as the project begins, .i.e. the review of the literature and the development of the conceptual framework.



• Research proposals:1)The first is the self-generated research proposal

(academic proposal) prepared by students seeking approval for research project, a PhD thesis or a funded project.

2)Responsive proposals prepared by consultants for potential clients. They must submit written costed proposal or tender. The golden principle should address the brief with four objectives:



What is to be done? How is it to be done? When will it be done? What will it cost? Who will do it? Case study 1: The holiday as leisure (class

discussion)


research methods in tourism nicos rodosthenous phd 21/02/2013 3 21/2/20131dr nicos rodosthenous

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