Ethical Considerations in Quantitative Tourism and Hospitality Researches

Abstract

Research ethics is an extremely important part of every study. Tourism scholars receive guidance on ethical issues in research from different sources throughout their careers such as experiences from participation in research activities, quantitative data analysis or research methods methodology courses, short trainings, workshops, professional readings, and involving in peer-review processes. However, in a structured quantitative context, such as tourism and hospitality, the acquaintances and relationships between the research philosophy, design, and analysis choices related to research ethics are largely implicit and informal. That is, methodology scholars and research advisors might convey ethical principles and conducts about research design and data analysis, by reporting experientially and by modeling appropriate professional behavior. Thus, this chapter aims to provide a practical review of ethical issues in quantitative methods in tourism and hospitality researches. More specifically, this chapter focuses on several potential issues that might emerge in conducting research methods in tourism context. Data collection method and questionnaire design in this regard are considered as practical examples. Moreover, based on the principles of ethical issues in behavioral research, this chapter proposes and offers substantial guides in anticipating ethics in tourism and hospitality research.