Comparación del valor pronóstico de PATHS con otros

Realising the daily life experiences of the international retirees may be affected by their transnational behaviours, it is recommended that IRM research should incorporate transnational attributes in the future studies. To the researcher’s knowledge, transnationalism attributes have been given little attention in the tourism or IRM literatures. The inconsistent relation between a predictor and criterion variable as highlighted earlier in section 2.10.2 and 2.12.2, may indicate the need to introduce a moderating variable to better understand the phenomena (Baron & Kenny, 1986).

Furthermore, existing studies do not provide a model that includes transnational attributes to test its impact on traveller’s satisfaction. Therefore, transnational behaviour is added as a moderating variable in the proposed model, as shown in Figure 2.11.

88 Figure 2.11: Final Theoretical Framework

2.16 Chapter Summary

In this chapter, first, the background of retirement migration has been discussed.

The retirement migration movement shows the evolution of intra-regional phenomenon to transnational mobility due to globalisation and ease of movement. The mobility of retirees around the world gave rise to the international retirement migration (IRM). The growth of IRM is phenomenal over the past decades, particularly among the European nations and within the greater American continent. Retirees established their second home in a foreign land with a tendency of owning property. Despite the debatable definition of second home, we can generally refer it to the destination of homers on a long term basis, acting as a residence of the person who comes from a different location (McIntyre, 2006; Visser, 2006) in the world.

The chapter then discussed the prominent role of tourism in promoting potential retirement migration to migrants (e.g. Balkir & Kirkulak, 2007; Casado-Diaz, 2006;

Claudia, 2009; Cuba, 1989; Ono, 2008; Rodriguez et al., 2004; Rodriguez et al., 1998).

89 References on travel motivations and travellers’ satisfaction are essential as literature in particular referring to IRM is rather scarce. Several travel motivation theories have been presented and emphasis is on the pull and push motivations theory, the chosen theory in this study. The literatures on the push and pull factors propose that people are initially pushed by intrinsic factors or emotional desires. They are then pulled by extrinsic or tangible factors. Consequently, several satisfaction theories are presented. Most recent tourism studies supported the notion that both push and pull factors had relationships with traveller’s satisfaction (Chi & Qu, 2008; Fang et al., 2008; Yoon & Uysal, 2005).

Post-satisfaction intentions were discussed next. They cover not only loyalty, but also three other possible responses, namely, exit, voice and neglect. These three responses have not received much attention in tourism studies to date, thus making an important contribution of this research towards both the IRM and tourism studies. The inclusion of exit, voice and neglect in IRM study is essential as international retirees are exposed to several retirement destination alternatives. Unlike general tourists, the retirees have a long-term option to stay or to leave the retirement destination.

Understanding of their intention will enable the policy makers or retirement scheme marketers to take necessary actions to sustain the retirees’ participation.

Lastly, the construct of transnational behaviours that may alter the retirees’ daily retirement life experiences in retirement destination have been presented. The researcher focused on the relevancy of incorporating transnational attributes as the moderating variable into the IRM framework. This proposal makes another important contribution towards IRM and tourism studies. Research gaps were presented at the end of each section and discussed with the intention of developing the theoretical framework.

90 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN

3.1 Introduction

The main aim of this study is to gauge MM2H participants’ in-depth thoughts of their overseas retirement motivations, overall satisfaction level at the retirement destination, and their post-satisfaction intentions. It is important to identify the appropriate methodology to achieve the research objectives and to explain the development and measurement for each construct. Furthermore, suitable procedures and techniques are needed for data analysis, to ensure the reliability and the validity of the research findings.

Methodology is the nature of research methods and design while research strategy explains the research procedures. Methods are the instruments employed in data collection and analysis (Cohen et al., 2003; Sarantakos, 2005). Therefore, the methodology, methods, and design of this study are presented in this chapter. The chapter provides the specific steps taken in addressing the research problems and testing the research hypotheses. Issues pertaining to the chosen research methodology, data collection, and analysis techniques will be discussed.

This chapter first introduces the researcher’s philosophical assumptions, followed by discussion on research methodology. Next, research methods and the rationale of using the triangulation methodology in this study will be discussed.

Research design will then be explained through a process flow chart. Research questions, objectives, and framework will be revisited and the relevant research hypotheses will be presented next. Lastly, sampling design, data collection methods, and analysis techniques employed in this study will be discussed before presenting the chapter summary.

91 3.2 Philosophical Assumptions

Even though it is possible to access the external world objectively as stipulated in positivism doctrine (Wong et al., 2011), the centrality of this study is humanity. It is related and about the international retirees’ view on the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme. Thus, metaphysical subjectivity on epistemology is something that cannot be ignored. Knowledge on international retirement migration (IRM) can be constructed from the social and historical perspectives as the in-depth study of MM2H is rather new.

Earlier researches on IRM were prone to adopt conventional paradigms, adopting either epistemic reflexivity or a mixture of methodological reflexivity (e.g.

Breuer 2005; Cribier, Duffau, & Kych, 1973; King et al., 1998; Ono, 2008; Rodriguez, 2001; Rodriguez et al., 1998; Rodriguez et al., 2004; Sunil and Rojas, 2005). However, in more recent IRM studies, it is observed that researches adopt the theory of neutral observational language assumption (e.g. Balkir and Kirkulak, 2007; Casado-Dıaz et al., 2004; Gibler et al., 2009; Williams et al., 2000). Thus, it will be wise for MM2H study to adopt the similar epistemic assumption as well.

Given the fact that a full study of MM2H programme itself has yet to be carried out in Malaysia; a paradigm that is prone towards the subjectivist epistemology will be more meaningful. Coupled with the assumption of the independent existence of the social and natural reality, a combination of pragmatic-critical realism and neo-positivism paradigms will be adopted in this study. The adopted philosophical assumptions are inclusive of the interpretative element to some extent through in-depth interview and data collection as it is believed that we could observe the external reality could be observed objectively.

92 3.3 Research Methodology

Sarantakos (2005) suggested that quantitative and qualitative are the two research methodologies employed in social science studies. These methodologies are commonly known as deduction and induction approaches respectively (Cavana et al., 2008; May, 2001).

Quantitative or deduction approach assumes that a theory should be available to formulate a hypothesis. Data should be collected next and hypotheses tested. The theoretical model needs to be developed first, followed by the creation of hypotheses that reflect relationships between the constructs. Research measures are then designed to determine the model, testing the hypotheses, purifying the model, and associating it with underpinning theories (Reynolds, 1979). The key advantage of this approach is its objectivity as hypotheses are tested based on data collected (objective measures), thus generalising better on the findings (Wicks & Freeman, 1998).

On the other hand, qualitative or induction approach emphasizes on theory building and suggests that empirical studies should not be restricted to make theories better by testing hypotheses (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). The researchers should observe the surrounding environment and the phenomenon pertaining to the research aim(s), identifying relevant and meaningful data to develop theories about them.