Research philosophies and principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Research philosophies and principles - Essay Example The postmodern moment (1990-1995) 6. The postexperimental inquiry moment (1995-2000) 7. The methodologically contested present (2000-2010) 8. The future moment (2010-). In each of the eight moments, different things are included in the definition of qualitative research (Jessor, Colby and Shweder, 1996, p. 129). However, it is customary to offer a generic definition of the qualitative research here: Qualitative research is a kind of research that is â€Å"based on a relativistic, constructivist ontology that posits that there is no objective reality. Rather, there are multiple realities constructed by human beings who experience a phenomenon of interest† (Krauss, 2005, p. 760). Researchers commonly adopt the qualitative methodology when they want to alter things for the better or want to bring a change. Therefore, advocacy and empathy are two of the most essential elements of the researcher’s lifestyle (Stake, 2010, p. 14). This paper evaluates and compares the research philosophies and principles of four research papers related to tourism. All of the research papers are based on qualitative research but have different research paradigms. 1. Visiting death and life: dark tourism and slave castles by Rasul A. Mowatt and Charles H. Chancellor Mowatt and Chancellor (2011) selected Ghana for their research since this country has most number of West African Slave Castles i.e. 36 out of the total 52 that have remained. Mowatt and Chancellor (2011) used interviews, photo elicitation and analysis of the tourists’ narratives in their methodology. The study involved 14 African descents eight of whom were females and six were males. All of them were from the US. The researchers agreed upon the non-generalizability of the research results. â€Å"As such the results from this study are not generalizable. A second sample could have yielded a confirmation or divergence in responses and behaviors with this sample† (Mowatt and Chancellor, 2011, p. 14 28). Research carried out by Mowatt and Chancellor (2011) is an exploratory research wherein the researchers don’t come with preconceived notions about the tourists’ motivations. This research was a mix of the modernist, critical representation and blurred genres moments of research. In course of their research, Mowatt and Chancellor (2011) found that although there is a lot of disparity in the ethnic identities of the aboriginal Africans and the African Americans that have been away from their indigenous place for centuries, yet they still relate to one another and shed away all their time-bound differences when they make a visit to the Ghanaian Slave Castles. The researchers found a special bond between the tourists and the Castles, which had remained unaffected despite their distance from their native land or change in their social identities that has occurred over the time. The factor of symbolic interactionism reflects in the tourists’ discomfort with the W hite people in the post-visit stage. It suggests that the tourists consider the slavery a racial matter in which the Black race has always been oppressed by the White. The fact that the researchers made use of photographs as a means to achieve the research objectives in addition to conducting the in-depth interviews with them and studying their ethnography makes this research relate to the blurred genres moment of research. Also, the researchers’ personal or intellectual biographies don’t show up in the research which further promotes the blurred genre