Qualitative Tourism Research Research Articles

Rethinking the evaluation criteria for qualitative tourism research: introducing resynthesis

This conceptual study aims to examine the evaluation criteria introduced by Lincoln and Guba (1985) through the lens of the current trends in qualitative tourism research. Emphasis is placed on the techniques of credibility, which are divided into internal and external. The findings reveal that internal techniques refer to the accuracy of the researcher’s interpretations of data analysis based on the researcher–participant relationship. In contrast, external techniques pertain to techniques requiring external reviewers and sources that increase the accuracy of research outcomes (e.g., peer debriefing). In this respect, this study proposes resynthesis as a technique that compares the findings of a qualitative study with past research. Although this technique is used in systematic literature review and metasynthesis, its scope differs in that it compares the empirical study’s findings with the existing literature in an attempt to enhance credibility.

Enhancing qualitative tourism research through reflexivity and rigour: an experience from a doctoral study

Enhancing qualitative tourism research through reflexivity and rigour: an experience from a doctoral study

Rules of interpretation – qualitative research in tourism by incorporating legal science canons

ABSTRACT Achieving rigour is one of the key challenges in qualitative research. Despite a significant amount of triangulation efforts in regards to data, methods, researcher and theory, actual coding aspects do not get the same level of analytical attention. This ‘technical’ triangulation can be improved and made more transparent by incorporating methodology of other disciplines, like legal science. Within the traditional ‘black-letter’ research, at least in continental Europe, the application of canons, especially the ‘Savigny Canons’, has a proven track record of structuring legal interpretation. Such interpretation from a technical perspective shares quite a few similarities with interpretation in qualitative research. Hence, it is proposed to also apply them in qualitative research in tourism, given the interdisciplinary nature of tourism as a field of research.

Ten markers of quality in designing and publishing qualitative tourism research

The use of qualitative research methodologies in tourism is growing; however there are concerns over the quality and rigour of some studies and the way they have been written up and justified to audiences. This research note presents ten common problems with qualitative research that the authors have encountered while reviewing journal articles and examining theses, with the aim of stimulating discussion as to what constitutes good qualitative research and how best to present qualitative findings in a tourism context. Issues covered include the consideration of philosophical underpinnings, detail about the methodological approach, reflexivity, sampling, the use of thick description, the importance of creating a narrative and demonstrating the trustworthiness of the study.

Temporality and biography in tourism: a qualitative longitudinal approach

Temporality is increasingly being recognised as an important dimension of tourist experience. Qualitative longitudinal research (QLR) is a methodology for investigating temporality and change that is rarely used in tourism studies. The approach moves away from reliance on data collected at one point in time and retrospective narratives. Instead, data are generated at multiple points in time, thus capturing experience in the present moment. I situate QLR alongside lifecourse and biographical research in order to show how it can extend existing qualitative enquiry into tourists’ subjective temporal experiences and biographical narratives. ‘Intensive’ and ‘extensive’ QLR designs are delineated and connected to potential applications in qualitative tourism research. Additionally, conceptual clarification is provided regarding use of the terms ‘longitudinal’ and ‘temporal’, which have frequently been a source of confusion. I conclude that QLR has significant potential to advance our understanding of tourist experience, motivation and transformation.

Qualitative online research in tourism – a systematic review of the literature

PurposeThis paper aims to present a systematic review of tourism articles using qualitative online methods. By focussing on tourism journals, this work explores the paradigmatic beliefs, methodological approaches and methods underpinning tourism qualitative online research.Design/methodology/approachThis review was conducted systematically by following the reporting checklist of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination.FindingsOverall, this systematic review indicates that the ontological and epistemological beliefs guiding online research are not clearly expressed by tourism scholars. It also shows that the possibility of using the internet for more interactive and participatory forms of research has not been fully explored by tourism scholars.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper expands tourism scholars’ awareness of the range of qualitative approaches/methods available by suggesting additional research instruments that could replace or complement the traditional ones. However, by selecting only indexed journal papers, other sources of publications, such as papers published in non-Scopus and non-Web-of-Science journals, books, book chapters and conference papers, were not included in the current review.Originality/valueThis work emphasizes the important role of cyberspace in facilitating virtual interactions between researchers and participants in the co-construction of qualitative empirical material.

Deep reflexivity in tourism research

Reflexivity has come to be accepted as standard methodological practice in qualitative tourism research, enabling researchers to reflect on how their subjectivity inevitably impacts on their work. However, reflexive accounts vary enormously from intimate, in-depth explorations to more modest reflexive disclosure statements, which are usually relegated to ‘safe’ spaces in the text such as the methodology section. Additionally, there is an implicit assumption in tourism studies that, while reflexivity is to be encouraged, some information is too private or embarrassing to be shared publicly. I introduce the notion of deep reflexivity, a radical approach to positionality and intersectionality developed by psychosocial researchers. Deep reflexivity implies that reflexive practice should be extended to include critical reflections on the researcher’s emotions, embodiment and unconscious processes that may impact on research. Such information can be accessed through introspection, the interpretation of fantasies, or even dream analysis. This approach is particularly applicable to psychological interview-based research in tourism, but I argue that it has wider relevance and potential. Deep reflexivity in practice is illustrated by sharing a personal account of conducting fieldwork in a volunteer tourism setting in Kenya and I reflect on the challenges that this form of reflexivity presents in terms of ethics, professional integrity, and methodological accuracy. I conclude by arguing that psychosocial studies and the concept of deep reflexivity present a promising avenue for methodological disruption and advancement in critical tourism research.

Beyond the third moment? Mapping the state of qualitative tourism research

ABSTRACTThis paper poses a central question: what is the present moment in qualitative tourism research? To answer this, the authors review the state of contemporary qualitative tourism research over the past decade (2007–2017), against current progress in the social sciences. Specifically, a systematic bibliometric analysis of tourism journals was undertaken to determine how tourism scholarship maps against Denzin and Lincoln’s social science ‘moments’. These moments prove useful in heuristically framing the development of qualitative social research and thinking; from early moments characterized by positivist ways of knowing, through to later moments where scholars struggle through and beyond the crisis of representation. Using an adapted moments-based framework, our analysis of 1541 qualitative papers across 51 tourism journals indicates that the majority of papers are emblematic of ‘early moment’ thinking. Despite clear evidence of a crisis of representation in some areas, and an increase in the number of qualitative papers published, there is a lack of ‘later moment’ thinking, methodology and/or approach. The political, social and philosophical constraints and opportunities presented by these findings are discussed.

Disentangling the tourism sector’s fragmentation: a hands-on coding/post-coding guide for interview and policy document analysis in tourism

Qualitative tourism research is inevitably multidimensional. The fragmentation of the tourism sector across policy domains, scales, space and stakeholders leads to ‘blurry’ and aggregated datasets. Yet, tourism studies have a weak record in describing how results emanate from raw qualitative data. This paper presents a coding/post-coding scheme that proved robust in disentangling multidimensional tourism datasets in a middle-range research project that necessitated reflecting on the position of the researcher and the literature study during the data analysis. It describes the pragmatic decisions taken to organise the qualitative data from a research project on cross-border tourism and regional development processes. The paper also functions as a reflexive account of how this scheme came into existence. It contributes to the tools available to practically acknowledge the fragmentation of the tourism sector and the resulting multidimensional qualitative data, and calls for a more open accounting of the data analysis process and the underlying research values in tourism studies.

Elaborating on grounded theory in tourism research

Grounded theory method has been gaining momentum within qualitative tourism research. However, different versions of grounded theory exist, and tourism researchers rarely address this variety in their work. This article addresses this issue and engages with grounded theory’s core tenets, its epistemological and ontological underpinnings, and its contribution to theory building. We present an overview of grounded theory studies in tourism. In light of the trends in qualitative research towards a blurring of genres and creativity, we also suggest that Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy may take grounded theory researchers to new research territories. In our view, the constructivist orientation to grounded theory, impregnated with Deleuzian thinking, is seen as a methodological tool most capable of facilitating positive change.

Qualitative tourism research: Opportunities in the emergent soft sciences

A liberation in ‘soft science’ inquiry over recent decades has opened up ontological, epistemological and methodological opportunities, but this empowerment is often under-recognised in investigations of tourism. While qualitative inquiry has made significant advances within tourism studies, scholars can gain richly by continuing to cultivate forms of critical multilogicality, and by embracing some of the methods and approaches on offer elsewhere across the broader (soft) social sciences. This paper thereby advances a set of key conceptual principles which guide emergent soft science thinking; it reviews their applicability within tourism studies through a probative ‘tableau’ of qualitative approach exemplars.

The crisis of the ‘crisis of representation’ – mapping qualitative tourism research in Southeast Asia

While the quantitative–qualitative dichotomy still permeates academic circles, qualitative research is gaining momentum within the realm of social sciences. Among the scholars who have contributed to legitimize qualitative approaches to research, Denzin and Lincoln [2005. Preface. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (3rd ed., pp. ix–xix). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2011. Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1–19). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] have represented one of the leading voices in the field in the last 30 years. A significant aspect of Denzin and Lincoln's scholarly production concerns the historical analysis of qualitative methodologies. More specifically, they identify eight historical periods or ‘moments’ of qualitative research, which heuristically map the development of qualitative studies from the beginning of the twentieth century until the ‘fractured present’. Based on Denzin and Lincoln's [2011. Introduction: The discipline and practice of qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 1–19). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage] eight moments, this paper employs descriptive statistics to present a critical analysis of the state of qualitative tourism research in Southeast Asia. The results indicate that quantitative approaches are privileged over qualitative methodologies. Moreover, the findings show that Asian qualitative tourism research is mainly driven by positivist and post-positivist paradigms. The results are discussed in relation to the colonial and postcolonial forces that have shaped the political and sociocultural context of Southeast Asian academic circles.

Whole-Family Research: Towards a Methodology in Tourism for Encompassing Generation, Gender, and Group Dynamic Perspectives

Families traveling with children represent one of the largest markets for the tourism industry. Methodological approaches to family tourism research are underdeveloped as the study of families requires a more holistic and critical approach. This article addresses this shortcoming by introducing whole-family research—a qualitative methodology used in family research that is inclusive of the group and individual perspectives of all family members. An application of this method to domestic family holidays in New Zealand is presented and associated methodological and theoretical issues are examined. The discussion is conceptualized within the family holiday experience literature and recent developments in qualitative tourism research. It introduces a triangular family group perspective that is inclusive of sociality and three-dimensionality rather than relying on one-dimensional (individual) or two-dimensional (dyadic or gendered) perspectives. An analytical framework that transcends the complexity and multidimensionality of the current whole-family study is presented. Methodological issues considered include access to families, diversity of family forms, ethical considerations with children, inclusion of fathers, and projective techniques. Included are three examples from the findings to illustrate the merits of whole-family research: the perspectives of the fathers, children, and group dynamics. The potential of this research methodology in exploring gender, generational, and group dynamic dimensions in tourism are highlighted.

Examination of grounded theory analysis with an application to hospitality research

The focus on qualitative research has unfortunately been mainly confined to methods of data collection, neglecting a more significant aspect, namely data analysis. Hospitality and tourism research is no exception to this observation. This is considered to be one of the main reasons why there has been a lower output of qualitative research in hospitality and tourism. In order to elevate the status of and, consequently, use of qualitative research more attention should be shown towards the issue of data analysis. Consequently, the current work aims to make a modest contribution in this direction by thoroughly examining one specific analytic strategy—that of grounded theory—with an application of it to a hospitality study.

The state of qualitative tourism research

Previous reviews of tourism research methods have concentrated on studies underpinned by positivist science or assessments of quantitative methods and analyses. Conspicuous by their absence are reviews that focus on studies supported by the interpretive paradigm and assessments of qualitative analyses. This paper provides a descriptive review of the latter research using feature articles from four major journals in the field, employing “moments of qualitative research” as the framework of analysis. This paper makes no attempt to assess methodological sophistication but provides baseline data about previous and present uses of the interpretive paradigm and qualitative methods. It reviews each journal from its inception through 1996.

Triangulation in qualitative tourism research

Qualitative research in tourism is often blamed for missing the tenets of ‘good’ science. There are two major reasons for this. On one hand, positivism is still the prevailing paradigm in many areas of tourism research. On the other hand, qualitative researchers often fail to explain how and why their methods are sound. This results in confusion and misunderstandings. In this paper, basic criteria to assess the trustworthiness of a qualitative study are listed, and triangulation is proposed as a way to implement them. Refining the concepts of corroboration and validation, triangulation consists of strengthening qualitative findings by showing that several independent sources converge on them, or at least, do not oppose them. Denzin’s four basic types of triangulation (i.e. data, method, investigator and theoretical triangulation) are described and illustrated by appropriate tourism examples.

Quantitative versus qualitative tourism research

In order to examine the importance of “quantitative” vs. “qualitative” tourism research, similar developments in anthropology arc examined. In addition, the impact of such thought upon marketing is discussed. The tradeoffs of choosing “qualitative” or “scientific” techniques are overtly considered, “science” and “art” in research are operationally defined, and the strength of each method is juxtaposed and justified. Such an analysis is vital since tourism seeks to build its own distinct research tradition. An eclectic approach of choosing research methods is recommended in light of the fact that tourism scholars and practitioners deal with complex phenomena and, as a result, rigorous, scientific methods are not always appropriate for the problems encountered.

Educational Patterns in Colonial Malaya

Previous articleNext article No AccessEducational Patterns in Colonial MalayaCharles HirschmanCharles Hirschman Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Comparative Education Review Volume 16, Number 3Oct., 1972 Sponsored by the Comparative and International Education Society Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/445630 Views: 11Total views on this site Citations: 14Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1972 The Comparative and International Education SocietyPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Yishin Khoo, Jing Lin “Asia as method” as a quest of the spirit and finding we-togetherness: a collaborative autoethnography, Asia Pacific Education Review 2 (Feb 2023).https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-023-09827-3Martin Ravallion Ethnic inequality and poverty in Malaysia since May 1969. Part 1: Inequality, World Development 134 (Oct 2020): 105040.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105040Marcea Ingersoll Uncommon Knowledge, (Sep 2018): 259–281.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119082316.ch13Stefanie Pillai, Lok Tik Ong English(es) in Malaysia, Asian Englishes 20, no.22 (May 2018): 147–157.https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2018.1459073Hazrul Shahiri, Kihong Park Ethnic group returns to education during the early post-colonial period in Malaysia, Asian-Pacific Economic Literature 32, no.11 (Mar 2018): 120–130.https://doi.org/10.1111/apel.12222Sushila Devi S. Rajaratnam Qualitative Research in Tourism: Reflections of an Asian Researcher, (Feb 2018): 241–254.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7491-2_13Kingsley Bolton, Werner Botha , 21 ( 2017): 133.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51976-0_8Adeline Koh Asian Bodies, English Values, (Jan 2016): 177–198.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-509-8_8S. Gopinathan, Abu Bakar Mardiana Globalization, the State and Curriculum Reform, (Oct 2013): 15–32.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-57-4_2A. J. STOCKWELL ‘The Crucible of the Malayan Nation’: The University and the Making of a New Malaya, 1938–62, Modern Asian Studies 43, no.55 (Sep 2009): 1149–1187.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0026749X08003752Suet-Ling Pong Sibship Size and Educational Attainment in Peninsular Malaysia: Do Policies Matter?, Sociological Perspectives 40, no.22 (Aug 2016): 227–242.https://doi.org/10.2307/1389523Zafiris Tzannatos Reverse racial discrimination in higher education in Malaysia: Has it reduced inequality and at what cost to the poor?, International Journal of Educational Development 11, no.33 (Jan 1991): 177–192.https://doi.org/10.1016/0738-0593(91)90018-4Seth Spaulding, Shuib Bin Hussain Reverse educational discrimination in Malaysian education, Prospects 19, no.11 (Mar 1989): 105–116.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02195863J. K. P. Watson Education and Cultural Pluralism in South East Asia, with Special Reference to Peninsular Malaysia, Comparative Education 16, no.22 (Aug 2006): 139–158.https://doi.org/10.1080/0305006800160206