Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management Dissertation Guide

Writers: Sarah Cullen and Terry Webb

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Contents
Introduction What is research? The research process or methodology 1. Getting Started Objectives Theory of research The research proposal 2. Literature Review Objectives Searching the literature Record keeping Reading material critically Making notes Writing a literature review Structuring a literature review Styles of writing Compiling a bibliography Summary 3. Research Design Objectives Secondary data collection Primary data collection methods Accuracy of the research method Summary 4. Analysis, Presentation and Discussion of Data Objectives Why we analyse data Qualitative data analysis Quantitative data analysis Summary or descriptive statistics Diagrammatic representation of data Writing up the results Bibliography i ii iv 1 1 2 13 35 35 36 39 42 46 47 48 50 56 67 69 69 70 76 109 113 115 115 116 118 126 141 156 165

Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management Dissertation Guide

Introduction
This open learning pack is designed to help you study and work towards your dissertation and fulfil the learning outcomes for the module. The learning outcomes are:

compose a detailed research proposal on a topic relevant to your major pathway identify your research approach within the general framework of research methodology locate information from a variety of secondary sources write a critical literature review that deals effectively with relevant concepts/theories/models select and implement appropriate primary data collection methods analyse quantitative and/or qualitative data and evaluate in relation to models and theories present a dissertation that effectively communicates your research findings.

The dissertation is a piece of research that shows that you have the capability to carry out the research process in an independent and thorough way. It brings together all the research skills that you have developed over the past two or three years while studying other modules on the degree and enables you to study a topic of your choice in more depth. We take you through all the stages of the process and give guidance on how to write a research proposal and the final dissertation. It is designed for you to work through on your own and gives lots of activities for you to complete. In addition, it is important that you undertake additional investigation into research methods as we can only give you the basic guidelines here. For example, once you have decided on a particular method to use you will need to read up on that method in a number of research methods textbooks. Your tutor or supervisor can help you with any aspects that you find difficult. The first thing to establish is the nature of the research process. We cover this now.

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What is research?
There is no agreement or consensus between writers on how the word should be defined or interpreted. One reason for this is that research means different things to different people, for example: 1. 2. 3. 4. Children at school research their local environment. People research the times of trains from Waterloo to Paris. Scientists research the effects of genetically modified food. PhD students research and extend knowledge in their subject area.

A useful starting point in answering the question is to see how research is defined in a dictionary.

Activity I.1 Look up the definition of the word research in a number of dictionaries, such as Collins, Oxford English Dictionary, Chambers, Websters, Collins Dictionary of Sociology etc.

Commentary You might have found the following: Systematic investigation to establish facts or principles or to collect information on a subject.
Collins English Dictionary

Careful search or inquiry; endeavour to discover facts by study or investigation; course of critical investigation.
The Little Oxford Dictionary

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Dictionary definitions use words such as systematic, careful, facts, information, and investigation. However, the problem with these definitions is they are not sufficiently rigorous or detailed for our purposes. For example, the word information is often used when data should be used. From the many definitions offered in research methods textbooks, there is some agreement that research:

is a process of gathering facts (data) is systematic reviews, questions and synthesises existing knowledge involves analysis possibly increases knowledge is a combination of all of these.

Research is about process (the approach you take) and thinking (questioning, synthesis, analysis, criticality). As you work through this material, we discuss process and the intellectual activity thinking.

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Concept, theory and model

Three words that occur very regularly in research texts are concept, theory and model. It is often assumed that everyone knows what these words mean and what the differences between them are. These are usually false premises. The terms will be defined and briefly discussed. As in most situations there are a number of possible definitions for each word.

Concept
Simply, a concept is an abstract notion or idea, something that isnt concrete. A word or set of words that expresses a general idea concerning the nature of something or the relations between things, often providing a category for the classification of phenomena.
Theodorson & Theodorson 1969

In other words a concept is an abstract summary of characteristics that we see as having something in common. Concepts are created by people for the purpose of communication and efficiency.

Activity I.2 Can you think of some concept words?

Commentary Some examples of concepts are: Culture, society, personality, green, cost, money, profit, consumer, wastage, turnover, communication, equality, labour, management, work, motivation, number, probability, economics, teaching, learning, disability, sustainability, tourism, and so on.

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A concept has no set meaning and it is up to us to define what we mean by the concept. But if concepts have no set meaning then anyone can define a concept in any way that they wish. But if everyone can define the concept in any way they like the concept becomes worthless; unless there is agreement on the meaning communication is impossible. A concept therefore has to be defined, but in such a way that it has a degree of acceptance. Experts in the field usually propose such definitions. As a researcher you would be expected to:

review this range of definitions, and decide on which you are going to use.

Theory
A very loose meaning of the word is: That part of the study of a subject which is not practical. For example, teaching theory is often contrasted with teaching practice. More substantial definitions of a theory are: A theory is a set of interrelated principles and definitions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relationships among variables with the purpose of explaining natural phenomena.
Kerlinger 1986

Any set of hypotheses or principles linked by logical or mathematical arguments which is advanced to explain an area of empirical reality of type of phenomenon.
Jary & Jary 1995

In effect a theory includes a set of basic assumptions and axioms as the foundation and the body of the theory is composed of logically interrelated, empirically verifiable propositions.

Activity I.3 Can you list any theories?

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Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management Dissertation Guide

Commentary Some well-known theories are: motivational theory, chaos theory, number theory, game theory, theory of income, theory of relativity, theory of knowledge, theory of motivation.

Let us look at one of these theories in more detail. Motivation theories fall into two main groups content theories and process theories. Content theories of motivation, such as Maslows hierarchy of needs and Herzbergs two factor theory of motivation, focus on what motivates people. Process theories, such as Expectancy theory and Equity theory, place more emphasis on how people become motivated. If we look at one of these theories, Maslow is based on a set of assumptions and links a number of variables (physiological, security social, self-esteem and self-satisfaction) to explain motivation. (Torrington and Hall, 1995) Concepts are generally regarded as being at a lower level of abstraction than a theory but a necessary part of any theory, since theories are formed from concepts.

Model
Lucey (1991) defines a model of any simplified abstract of reality. For example we are all familiar with scale models of aircraft, cars, ships, housing estates, etc. These simplified versions of the real thing are called physical or iconic models. They are based directly on the representation of the phenomenon being studied and look like the object. An extension of the physical model is the analogue model. These models are physical in form but do not have the same appearance as the object being investigated. The circular movement of the hands of a wristwatch is an analogue of the behaviour of time. However there are other types of models. Symbolic models are based on logic, and inter-relationships between concepts are usually expressed mathematically or algebraically. They are concerned with quantification. Mathematical (algebraic) equations are symbolic models. For instance a simple mathematical model is: Profit = Revenue minus Total Cost or P = R TC

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There are many such symbolic models in the fields of economics, finance, statistics, science and engineering. One approach to the analysis of such models is to represent the model on a spreadsheet and conduct sensitivity analysis. A conceptual model is composed of a pattern of interrelated concepts but not expressed in mathematical form and primarily not concerned with quantification. Diagrams, such as maps, graphs, charts, balance sheets, circuit diagrams, and flowcharts, are often used to represent such models.

Activity I.4 Do you know (the names of) any models? Write them below.

Commentary Some examples of conceptual models are: Porters (1985) value chain analysis Porters (1980) five forces model Parasuramans (1991) service quality model Torkildsen (1992) pleisur model

Thus a second definition of model is A pattern of relationships either conceptual or mathematical which is found in some way to imitate, duplicate or analogously illustrate a pattern of relationships in one observations of the world.
(Theodorson & Theodorson 1969)

Models may be very simple or very complex. Since the world we observe cannot be observed in totality, each model reflects only a limited aspect of the total world. No single model, or combination of models, reveals the truth of the structure of reality. Each model reveals and orders reality from a particular perspective. In practice concepts and especially theories are often referred to as models. Other words associated with concepts theories and models are law, empirical and variable.

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A law is a precise statement of a relationship among facts that has been repeatedly corroborated by scientific investigation and is generally accepted as accurate by experts in the field. Laws are generally derived from a theory. A law is frequently referred to as a universal and predictive statement. It is universal in the sense that the stated relationship is held always to occur under the specified conditions, although the conditions may be predicted to follow. Empirical means based on experience, observation or experimentation. Empiricism is the belief that all human knowledge is derived from experience as opposed to, for example, idealism, rationalism and naturalism. A variable is a characteristic or attitude that changes or varies. More exactly, it is any measurable characteristic which can assume varying or different values in successive individuals cases. In the mathematical sense it is a quantity that may take any one of a specified set of values, for example, height. A wider use of the term variable includes mathematically non-measurable characteristics such as gender and religion. It is usual, when comparisons are made between two variables or there is a relationship between two variables, to term one the dependent variable and the other the independent variable. The independent variable is the variable that is changed or manipulated. As a consequence of this change there will be a resulting change in the other variable dependent variable. For example, research may be conducted into the intensity of lighting in a room in order to observe the effect on productivity levels of workers. The independent variable is the intensity of lighting and the dependent variable is the level of production.

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The research process or methodology

The research process or methodology is the approach to the entire study it is the master plan. It is the blueprint for achieving your objectives, one of which is the production of the dissertation. Irrespective of the research you are going to conduct, there are several fundamental stages you will have to go through. The diagram below is a simplified, traditional and highly structured view of the research process. 1. Identify terms of reference

2.

Survey past work

3.

Plan your approach

4.

Collect the data

5.

Analyse the data

6.

Discuss your findings

7.

Present the findings

Figure I.1: The research process (a) The diagram shows the systematic nature of the research process. Unfortunately it is not quite so straightforward as many of the stages overlap and there is much looping back to previous stages. This simplified diagram does not show the underpinning theoretical issues and questions that have to be addressed. The following diagram shows the different aspects to be considered under each section.

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1.

Identify terms of reference or Getting started

Theory of research The research proposal

2.

Survey of past work or Literature review

Searching the literature Record keeping Reading the literature critically Making notes Writing a literature review Referencing and compiling a bibliography Secondary data sources Primary data collection methods Sampling Reliability and validity

3.

Plan the approach or Research design

4.

Analysis, presentation and discussion of data

Qualitative analysis and presentation Quantitative analysis and presentation Evaluation Comparison with literature

Figure I.2: The research process (b) As you can see each stage in the process has many aspects and issues to be considered. We cover all of these stages in the units in this set of 4 units.

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