TY - JOUR
T1 - A call for renewal in tourism ethnographic research
T2 - the researcher as both the subject and object of knowledge
AU - O'Gorman, Kevin
AU - MacLaren, Andrew
AU - Bryce, Derek
PY - 2012/9/12
Y1 - 2012/9/12
N2 - Our critique of tourism ethnographic research argues that too much existing published work tends to cite preceding studies as methodological precedents without stating how particular approaches were operationalised. Moreover, findings are often presented as individual cases with limited utility in terms of theory building or wider understanding of contextual phenomena. We argue that closer attention, first to current developments within anthropology, which seek to overcome researcher naivety and second, greater philosophical reflexivity, would elevate both the rigour with which such work is undertaken and the seriousness with which it is received in the wider academy. We call for a double-reflexivity in ethnographic research in tourism that accepts both the specific situational nature of individual studies and the wider discursive frames within which they are embedded. We call for constant reflection on, and acknowledgment of, this duality in ethnographic research where, after all, the researcher is so intimately embedded in empirical and subjective terms.
AB - Our critique of tourism ethnographic research argues that too much existing published work tends to cite preceding studies as methodological precedents without stating how particular approaches were operationalised. Moreover, findings are often presented as individual cases with limited utility in terms of theory building or wider understanding of contextual phenomena. We argue that closer attention, first to current developments within anthropology, which seek to overcome researcher naivety and second, greater philosophical reflexivity, would elevate both the rigour with which such work is undertaken and the seriousness with which it is received in the wider academy. We call for a double-reflexivity in ethnographic research in tourism that accepts both the specific situational nature of individual studies and the wider discursive frames within which they are embedded. We call for constant reflection on, and acknowledgment of, this duality in ethnographic research where, after all, the researcher is so intimately embedded in empirical and subjective terms.
KW - cultural tourism
KW - philosophy
KW - subjectivity
KW - reflexivity
KW - ethnography
UR - http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcit20
U2 - 10.1080/13683500.2012.718321
DO - 10.1080/13683500.2012.718321
M3 - Article
JO - Current Issues in Tourism
JF - Current Issues in Tourism
SN - 1368-3500
ER -