Tourism and Hospitality Research - Essay Example

Research help players in the hospitality industry to understand the best ways provide services for customers. Primary research aids in gathering of information used in books and the respective fields across the globe. While the benefits of research are obvious, it is still debatable if there is such a thing as perfect research. Because of the value laden nature of research, subjectivity of facts, and bias of researchers, I agree with Griffith’s assertion “there is no hope of doing perfect research” (Griffiths, 1998, p97).

I argue that despite the absence of perfect research, researchers should be objective, and provide information that is helpful for the tourism industry. Coherent and functional research is achievable through objectivity, respect of rules and ethics and emphasis on validity. 2. My Research Approach: Positive Paradigm For my research, I chose Positivism as my paradigm. The positive paradigm accrues from the ideas of French Philosopher August Comte. Comte observed that observation and reasons are essential to understanding human behavior.

He emphasized the role of experience of senses accrued after repeated observation and experiments. Positivist thinkers resonate with Comte’s views because they enhance knowledge acquisition by embodying science as an instrumental tool of research. Determinism, empiricism, parsimony, and generality are key facets of the positive paradigm. Determinism argues that human events are caused by circumstances. Understanding circumstances is, therefore, critical for a substantial research work. Empiricism premises on the use of evidence to support theories.

Parsimony implies that explanations for research should be brief and concise (Dash, 2012). Even though positive paradigm has been influential in shaping research, it has been criticized for its lack of acknowledgement for side issues such as subjective state of individuals, the assumption that human nature is passive, and it is under the prerogative of the external environment (Hossard, 1993). 3. Why Positive Paradigm? Positive paradigm emphasizes objective approach while carrying out research.

It also encourages the use of experiments and analysis subject to quantitative and qualitative data. Despite its limitation such as the emphasis on the environment as a key player of occurrences, and the assumption that human nature is passive, positive paradigm provides the best platform upon which a study on tourism and hospitality can be undertaken (Anderson, 1998). I considered the following questions before I chose the positive paradigm as my preferred research method. What are my social phenomena?

Is my opinion on tourism and hospitality subjective or objective What are the sources of knowledge for this study? Can more sources be created? What is the relationship between tourism and hospitality and the environment? I realized that positive paradigm provided the best strategy for undertaking this research. First, because the positive paradigm encourages the discovery of new facts dues its objectivity, it creates room for me to inject my personal discoveries. Second, because of tourism and hospitality’s a direct correlation with the environment, I figured that the environment would be an influential player in the research.

I also realized that in this industry, key sources of information