Research Methods in Tourism, Hospitality and Events Management

6.6 Mixed-method approach

It is sometimes useful in research to use a mixed-method approach to

develop a deeper understanding of a particular issue. Some examples of this

approach, where both quantitative and qualitative methods are used in

combination, are shown below:

1. A survey carried out with a staff group in a hotel followed by a series

of in-depth interviews to consider the talent management procedures.

2. Questionnaires conducted with tourists followed by focus groups with

a small sample of the respondents to discover opinions of a visitor

attraction.

3. Participant observation at an event followed by in-depth interviews

with attendees to investigate their perceptions of quality.

The example of research in 

Illustration 6.5

 shows how the student used

questionnaires in combination with in-depth interviews with experts to

investigate the development of agritourism in a region of India.

If you are planning to use a mixed-method approach, you must remember

that this will require different skills and will take longer to complete,

particularly if you want to analyse the first part of the research before

designing the second stage. We will look at the analysis later on in the book

in more detail.

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Illustration 6.5 A case study approach to research using

quantitative and qualitative methods