RESEARCH METHODS IN TOURISM Nicos Rodosthenous PhD 21/02/ /2/20131Dr 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 21/2/20132Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/20133Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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. 21/2/20134Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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. 21/2/20135Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/20136Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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. 21/2/20137Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/20138Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/20139Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/201310Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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? 21/2/201311Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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. 21/2/201312Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/201313Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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 timetable 21/2/201314Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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 subjects b.That subjects should take part freely c. That subjects should take part on the basis of informed consent. 21/2/201315Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals.  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. 21/2/201316Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 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: 21/2/201317Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals.  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) 21/2/201318Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/201319Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Starting out: Develop research plans and proposals. 21/2/201320Dr Nicos Rodosthenous