3.6.5.1 General methods shared with other research
Based on the analysis of the conceptual research that has been done in tourism, some research methods are found to be used. Since conceptual research refers to the origin, development and classification of a specific concept or concepts, systematic (literature) review is the most popular method used. The relevant literature are always interrogated to explore the origin, development and different definitions or classifications of the concepts. For example, Ahmad et al. (2010) reviewed the past literature that defines non-urban tourism and rural tourism. After analysing and contrasting the different definitions, they put forward the main determinants of rural tourism. Many researchers tend to claim that they are using is a literature review, such as “A careful literature review is performed to …… (Kim et al, 2010) ”, “The paper undertakes a thorough review of the relevant literature …… (Zehrer and Raich, 2010) ”. Some articles even consider the literature review as the main purpose, such as Ryan’s (2010) paper, which clearly indicates that its purpose is to offer a review of the relative literature on the concept of the tourist experience.
Another important method used in conceptual research is the case study. The case is used to illustrate the issues of one or more concepts vividly and directly. Birger et al. (2009) analyse the criteria for defining the boundaries of destinations by looking at the case of the Swiss canton of Grisons. This is a single case study that the conceptual paper is based on. Similarly, Greiner et al. (2009) use the Gulf of Carpentaria in northern Australia as a case to clarify the concepts of ecosystem services and environmental services.
There are also other research methods used in conceptual research besides systematic/literature reviews and case studies. For example, Nicholls (2011) analyses consultations with CCI experts and cross-cultural management experts. Zehrer and Raich (2010) take a hermeneutical approach in their conceptual paper, which, after a review of the literature relevant to their key concept—tourism networks—elaborates a series of propositions.
3.6.5.2 Conceptual research approaches
Although systemic literature reviews and case studies are the two most popular research methods used by conceptual research, they cannot indicate clearly how conceptual research can be carried out, or what the differences are between conceptual research and other studies using the same method. Apart from the general methods, there are some specific approaches that are used to carry out conceptual research. According to section 3.4.3, the typology of frequent issues in conceptual research, the twelve themes, can demonstrate how conceptual research can be carried out better. For example theme ii Comparing concepts can refer to the approach of compare and contrast analysis. The analysis of the ten key conceptual research articles in tourism demonstrates that often three or more (at least one) themes are adopted by a piece of conceptual research according to its research question and characteristics. The twelve themes can therefore be considered as specific approaches for conceptual research.
3.7. Conclusion
In conclusion, this chapter opens up the horizon for the study of conceptual research as an important research effort in tourism. It adds a deeper understanding of conceptual research in tourism. The overview of tourism research shows that conceptual research as a term is rare in the literature on tourism. This does not mean, however, that no conceptual research has been done in tourism. In order to find out these examples of conceptual research in tourism and analyse them, CABABS is used for data mining, and content analysis is chosen as the data analysis method. The quantitative analysis demonstrates that conceptual research does exist in tourism research but that it accounts for a very low percentage (4.17%) of the total research that has been done on tourism. This indicates the important contribution of this study to tourism studies.
The qualitative analysis develops a typology of popular issues and approaches presented in conceptual research. Twelve themes were drawn to illustrate what conceptual research is about and how it is carried out. An in-depth analysis of ten classic tourism conceptual research papers demonstrated the feasibility and the emergent probability of twelve themes. Whilst some themes are very frequent in conceptual research, some are relatively rare. Systematic literature reviews and case studies are the two research methods most used by conceptual research.
Overall, therefore, in Study One, Chapter Two clarified what conceptual research is in terms of its rationale, definition, classification, limitations and its position in research, and Chapter Three investigated how conceptual research is carried out in tourism in terms of the popular issues and approaches presented in conceptual research as well as the popular methods used by conceptual research. Objective one of Study One (to clarify what conceptual research is and how it is carried out) has thus been achieved. In the next chapter, the research design with the framework of the study will be presented along with the details of the research methods used for Study Two (objectives 2a, 2b and 2c) or, in other words, an illustration of how Study Two can be carried out in detail.