Research Methods for Tourism: Research and Theory, Types and Methods of Research, Review of Literature, Variables and Measurement, Concepts, Constructs and Hypotheses, Sampling, Data Collection, Schedules, Questionnaires, Scales and Fieldwork, Qualitative Research (Grounded Theory, Ethnography, Case Study, Content Analysis, Phenomenology, Narrative Research, Mixed Methods), Multivariate Tools and Report Writing

Research is the systematic investigation of a question to establish facts and reach conclusions; theory is a set of related concepts and propositions that explains a phenomenon. They feed each other: deductive research starts from a theory, derives hypotheses and tests them with data (typical of quantitative work, such as testing whether destination image predicts loyalty), while inductive research starts from data and builds theory from patterns (typical of qualitative work, such as grounded theory of backpacker identity). Types of research are distinguished by purpose, basic (to extend knowledge) or applied (to solve a practical problem, such as forecasting demand for a new airport); by objective, exploratory (to clarify a new problem), descriptive (to describe characteristics, such as a visitor profile), correlational and explanatory or causal (to establish cause and effect, often by experiment); by time, cross-sectional (one point in time) or longitudinal (the same subjects over time); and by approach, quantitative, qualitative or mixed. Action research and evaluation research serve organisations directly.

The review of literature surveys what is already known about the problem. It identifies the relevant theories, concepts and models, previous findings and methods, and above all the gap the new study will fill; it helps frame the research questions and hypotheses and avoids repeating work. Its sources are journal articles, books, theses, conference papers, reports of bodies such as UN Tourism, the WTTC and the Ministry of Tourism, and databases; a systematic review uses explicit search and selection rules, and a meta-analysis combines the quantitative results of several studies. A good review is organised by themes rather than by author, is critical rather than a list of summaries, is current, and cites every source accurately.

A concept is an abstract idea formed from observation, such as "tourist" or "satisfaction"; a construct is a concept deliberately invented or adopted for scientific use, often not directly observable, such as "destination image", "place attachment" or "service quality", which must be defined and then operationalised, turned into measurable indicators such as the items of a scale. Measurement assigns numbers or categories to observations on four scales: nominal (categories such as nationality), ordinal (ranks such as hotel star grades), interval (equal intervals without a true zero, such as temperature in degrees Celsius, and in practice many rating scales) and ratio (with a true zero, such as spending or length of stay). Good measurement is reliable, giving consistent results (internal consistency is commonly judged by Cronbach's alpha, with values of about 0.7 or above usually taken as acceptable), and valid, measuring what it is meant to (content, criterion and construct validity). A hypothesis is a testable statement of the expected relationship between variables, for example "visitors with a more positive destination image show higher intention to revisit"; it should be clear, specific, grounded in theory and falsifiable, and is stated as a null hypothesis of no relationship and an alternative, directional or non-directional.

Two calculations recur. For a systematic sample of 500 from 10,000 departing visitors the interval is k = 10,000 ÷ 500 = 20, so every 20th visitor is interviewed after a random start between 1 and 20. For a proportional stratified sample of 500 from a population of 6,000 domestic and 4,000 foreign tourists, the foreign stratum receives 500 × 4,000 ÷ 10,000 = 200 interviews and the domestic stratum 300. Data are collected by surveys (face to face, including intercept surveys at airports and sites; by telephone; online), by interviews (structured, semi-structured and in-depth), by observation (participant or non-participant), by focus groups, and from secondary sources such as arrival statistics and hotel records.

A questionnaire is a set of questions that respondents read and answer themselves, on paper or online; a schedule is a set of questions that an enumerator or interviewer asks and fills in on the respondent's behalf, which suits respondents who cannot read the language and surveys at busy sites. Both are developed by defining the information needed, choosing question types (open or closed, multiple choice, rating), wording questions simply and without bias, avoiding double-barrelled and leading questions, ordering them from general to specific with sensitive questions late, and pilot-testing on a small group before the main survey. Attitudes are measured with scales: the Likert scale (Rensis Likert, 1932), agreement with statements on five or seven points; the semantic differential (Charles Osgood and colleagues, 1957), ratings between bipolar adjectives such as "crowded" and "peaceful"; and Thurstone and Guttman scales, rating and ranking scales. Fieldwork requires trained and supervised enumerators, a sampling plan followed on the ground, quality checks, and ethics: informed consent, voluntary participation, anonymity or confidentiality, and permission from site authorities.

A research report communicates the study so that others can understand, judge and use it. Its usual structure is the title and abstract (or executive summary); the introduction, with the problem, objectives and significance; the review of literature; the methodology, covering design, sampling, instruments, data collection and analysis; the results; the discussion, relating findings to theory and earlier studies; conclusions, limitations and recommendations; references; and appendices with instruments and detailed tables. Types of report include the technical or academic report and thesis for researchers; the popular or management report and the executive summary for decision-makers; interim or progress reports and the final report; and applied forms such as feasibility reports for a hotel or project and policy briefs. The style must be objective, precise and clear, with tables and figures that stand on their own, and every source must be acknowledged, since plagiarism and fabrication of data are the gravest breaches of research ethics.