Qualitative online research in tourism – a systematic review of the literature

Document Type

Article

Source of Publication

Tourism Review

Publication Date

12-19-2019

Abstract

© 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: This paper aims to present a systematic review of tourism articles using qualitative online methods. By focussing on tourism journals, this work explores the paradigmatic beliefs, methodological approaches and methods underpinning tourism qualitative online research. Design/methodology/approach: This review was conducted systematically by following the reporting checklist of the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses by the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination. Findings: Overall, this systematic review indicates that the ontological and epistemological beliefs guiding online research are not clearly expressed by tourism scholars. It also shows that the possibility of using the internet for more interactive and participatory forms of research has not been fully explored by tourism scholars. Research limitations/implications: This paper expands tourism scholars’ awareness of the range of qualitative approaches/methods available by suggesting additional research instruments that could replace or complement the traditional ones. However, by selecting only indexed journal papers, other sources of publications, such as papers published in non-Scopus and non-Web-of-Science journals, books, book chapters and conference papers, were not included in the current review. Originality/value: This work emphasizes the important role of cyberspace in facilitating virtual interactions between researchers and participants in the co-construction of qualitative empirical material.

ISSN

1660-5373

Publisher

Emerald Group Publishing Ltd.

Volume

75

Issue

2

First Page

448

Last Page

465

Disciplines

Tourism and Travel

Keywords

Netnography, Online methods, Qualitative methods, Reflexivity, Tourism

Scopus ID

85082405392

Indexed in Scopus

yes

Open Access

no

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