Research Process in Tourism and Hospitality

Research Process Overview

• This course covers the research process in detail, focusing on design, data collection, analysis and reporting. It also emphasizes quantitative applications, particularly in economics and business research.
• This course uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
• Research in Tourism focuses on the tourism and hospitality industry.

Course Objectives

•  Upon successful completion of this course, students will gain an understanding of research and understand its necessity in diverse fields, including tourism and hospitality.
• Students will learn to design and execute research projects.
•  Students will gain real-world experience with research.

Stages in the Research Process

• The course provides a comprehensive understanding of the research process including selecting a research problem, designing the research, gathering data, analyzing results, writing the research paper and disseminating findings.

Research Problem

• The research problem should be perceived as a challenge or deficiency.
• It should represent a discrepancy between the current state of affairs and the preferred or ideal state.
• The problem should be sufficiently unknown.

Criteria for a Researchable Problem

• The research problem should align with the researcher's area of expertise.
• The research should possess adequate material and manpower resources.
• The research should be practical and feasible.
• The research problem should be complex enough to warrant more than a yes or no answer.

Variables

• Variables represent characteristics possessing two or more distinctive values.
• In research, variables can be classified as dependent, independent, moderating, or extraneous.

Academic Performance Examples

•  The text highlights several variables related to academic performance, including student-teacher ratio, teacher education levels, entrance exam scores, teaching styles, class sizes, and study time.

Types of Variables

• Dependent Variable: Represents the anticipated consequence or effect of an independent variable.
• Independent Variable: Represents the presumed cause or antecedent of the dependent variable.
• Moderator/intervening Variable: A variable that helps explain the relationship between the dependent and independent variables.
• Extraneous Variable: A variable that can't be directly observed or measured, its impact might be deduced from the interplay of the independent and dependent variables.

Types of Relationships

• Symmetrical Relationship: One variable causes the occurrence of another. The occurrence of the second variable is not directly due to the first but due to a third factor.
• Asymmetrical Relationship: The occurrence of one variable causes the occurrence of another, but the inverse is not true.
• Reciprocal Relationship: Two variables influence each other, causing a two-way process.

Parts of a Research Paper

• Preliminary pages include: The title page, approval sheet, acknowledgments, abstract, table of contents, list of tables, list of figures, and list of appendices.
• The body of the research report contains chapters: Introduction, Literature review, research design and methodology, results, summary, conclusions, implications, and recommendations.

Chapter 1: Introduction

• The introduction to the study covers the background and theoretical framework, statement of the problem, hypotheses, significance of the study, and definitions of key terms.

Hypotheses

• A hypothesis is a statement regarding relationships between variables.
• Null Hypothesis: A non-directional statement suggesting no significant difference between variables.
• Alternative Hypothesis: A directional hypothesis suggesting significant differences between variables.

Chapter 4: Results

• Chapter 4 provides the analysis of findings, including both descriptive and inferential statistics.

Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations

• This chapter presents a summary of the research journey, discussing the problem, methodology, and key findings.
• It also provides conclusions drawn from the research findings.
• The implications of the findings are addressed, outlining their significance and potential applications.
• Recommendations are put forward based on the research outcomes, suggesting future avenues of research or actions.