A typology of quantitative approaches to discovery

Abstract

Annals of Tourism Research has a long history of discovery using many different research approaches. This study aims to encourage questioning of the currently dominant quantitative research designs by (1) proposing a typology of approaches to discovery; (2) determining how often each of these approaches is currently used; and (3) discussing issues relating to validity and generalisability. Key findings include that 72 % of empirical, studies rely on survey data; only 21 % measure actual behaviour or investigate secondary data capturing actual behaviour; and only 1 % represent (quasi)experimental field studies. The proposed typology helps tourism researchers (1) gain methodological clarity about alternative quantitative research designs and (2) declare the type of discovery method they are using to ensure results are not misinterpreted.