Tourism Other Methods Than Questionnaires and Interviews

Question :

We have read and listened to your submissions related to the group work, and we are happy that you have incorporated some of the necessary additions and changes in the paper that we suggested to you earlier. However, there are still some topics that need to be addressed more in depth, and we ask you to supplement your submission on the points listed below

1) Construction of questions and questionnaires (both qualitative and quantitative): what made you construct them the way you did, and how did that specific construction affect the results you got? Could they have been constructed differently to elicit more information/other types of information that you find is now missing? (This is a common reflection in all groups, and is part of the discussion of methods and tools.)

2) Data analysis: you describe what people have answered, but you don't discuss in sufficient depth what those answers mean, both more generally and what that implies for your research question. What conclusions can you legitimately draw about local people's perceptions of the cruise quay based on the material you have gathered, and what conclusions would need further proof? Are there inconsistencies in the material, both within and between the quantitative and qualitative ones? Please explain these aspects further.

Answer :

Construction of Questions and Questionnaires

The questionnaires are an important aspect of any research study that is based on the primary research methods. In the current study, the goal was to collect qualitative and quantitative data through primary research and conduct further analysis. In order to do this, relevant questionnaires were built to ensure that appropriate data are collected. When designing the questionnaire, the goal of the study is to ask questions that help in achieving the aim of the study. The research question was to understand the perception of locals in Gotland about the newly built cruise quay port and whether the port fulfil the three dimensions of sustainability criteria. The construction of the question was from the most obvious question towards more specific. It is understandable that when faced with difficult questions, people rarely try to respond due to the perceived hard work (Krosnick, 2018). However, when the level of questions grow from easy to hard, then it nudges the respondents to event attempt the toughest one. Moreover, after spending some moments answering easy questions, candidates are more likely attempt to respond other questions as well. Therefore, with this in mind, the initial questions were based on demographics and questions related to their familiarity with various key terms that were related to the study such as local politics, issues, and sustainability. The benefit of this approach was that most of the respondents ended up answering all the questions that were present in the question. 

Another aspect that seem beneficial was the articulation of the question. The effort was made to ensure that every respondents understand the questions. Most often it happens that researcher intends to know something from the respondents, but when they ask the intended questions, then the respondents understand the questions differently and ends up giving something else in response that negatively impacts the study outcome. Therefore, properly constructing the sentences of each of the questions is very important and during this process it should also be ascertained that the meaning is as expected (Krosnick, 2018). This can be understood by connecting with few of the respondents as part of pilot study and show them the questions know from them the meaning that they understood. When the questionnaire for the current study was created, then it was ensured that few respondents were taken into confidence early on in the study. They were showed the questionnaire and this way it helped clarify that the constructions of each questions will let the respondents understand what the researchers want. Another key aspect of question construction was asking questions in multiple choice format. The reason this form of question construction is very useful that it allows the respondents to respond to questions in a very short period of time without requiring them to take out specific time for it. Though this method worked quite well in quantitative questionnaire, this was not used in qualitative as the intention was to collect descriptive responses.

Now coming to the possible improvement in the existing questionnaire for eliciting more information. It can be said that including more questions in both the qualitative and quantitative questionnaires would have helped significantly. However, it is obvious that with the increase in the number of questions on the questionnaire, the propensity of respondents to fill the questionnaire reduces (Krosnick, 2018). Therefore, less questions were asked. Here, it can be stated that more efforts could have been made to ensure that each questions in the existing questionnaire elicits more information. In response to the current questionnaire, the respondents provided shorter answers that did not feel enough. Therefore, adding some potential prompts within the questionnaire could have assisted in respondents to handle each question from various perspectives and provide ample responses. 

Data Analysis

As the goal of the study was to understand the perception of locals in Gotland about the newly built cruise quay port and whether the port fulfil the three dimensions of sustainability criteria, it can be said that sufficient responses have been received from the respondents that can help in reaching the required conclusions. Based on the answers received from the respondents, it can be stated that there are mixed perception among them about the benefits and challenges that will be brought by newly built cruise quay port. However, there are some inconsistencies when it comes to the responses received in quantitative as well qualitative form. If the qualitative data are assessed, then it can be understood that the majority are of the view that the port is likely to provide some benefits to the locals. However, on the quantitative side, 14 out of 15 respondents did not feel the benefits. Here, it can be said that as the questionnaire did not allow asking reasons behind it, therefore, it would be difficult to ascertain the cause of extensive deniability. On the other hand, qualitative data provides ample understanding. It has helped in understanding that people are viewing the new port as the potential key driver in supporting the local economy. It has been perceived that the port will support the locals in getting jobs and avail new employment opportunities. However, as far as sustainability is concerned, it has been asserted by the respondents that the port is more likely to bring harm than do any good to the environment. The port is likely to increase the influx of tourists from various other geographies, and this may result in interference with the local environment. People want tourist in there, but only in limited frequency so that the stability in the environment can be maintained. However, if the overall dependency of the economy of Gotland can be observed, then it can be found that it mostly depends on tourist, and this seems the possible reason behind the acceptance of tourists in this area. However, the collected data has helped in understanding that people were comfortable with the previous port. 

Moreover, majority of the respondents showed inclination towards protecting the environment. In their opinion, Gotland region already faces several challenges, particularly related to water issues. Moreover, with the new port, it is likely that the environmental challenges may increase. There are some believe among the respondents that the policies made by the local authorities to protect the environment is appropriate and it will help protect the environment. However, the question that concerns is of effectively pursuing those policies to make ensure it gets implemented on the ground. But with opening of new port, this expectation seem go get challenged. People believe that the local authority cares for the well-being of the people living in the region and they also stated that the local municipality handles issues democratically. It has also been found through the data analysis that few respondents were of the view that instead of opening of the port, the investment should have been made on opening new healthcare facilities and increasing the number of doctors and nurses in order provide better healthcare options for the locals. It is understandable that the environment of Gotland is at risk, but the economy of the region is also of concern. In order to get better at one aspect, another may have to be traded off. Here, when question related to this aspect was posed to the respondents, then it came up that though they want to see economic development in the region, they do not want it at the cost of harming the already challenged environment. 

Moving further, when assessing the extent of economic benefit that can be brought to the locals of Gotland, the result showed that there is some perception among the residents that the port is less likely to help them. They believe that most of the time tourists spend their time on big boats and slight away from the port. Therefore, the opportunity of employment is more for those who spend their time on boats rather than those who are on land. 

Here, conclusions regarding the mixed perception among the respondents need further proofing and this will require collection of data from more respondents. Higher percentage of data collection may help know in which direction majority of opinion fall. The methods used in the study were based on questionnaire and interviews which seemed appropriate enough to collect the required data to reach the intended outcome of the study. It can be understood here that if used effectively, then distribution of questionnaires and conducting semi-structured interviews would be sufficient to reach the intended goal of the study. 

Overall it can be said that the data analysis has helped in effectively understanding the responses received from the respondents and reaching the intended goal of the study which was to answer the research question posed at the beginning of the study. It can be said that the study has been fruitful. However, there are aspects, as briefed earlier that could have been covered if more effort in data collection would have been done.

References

Krosnick, J. A. (2018). Questionnaire design. In The Palgrave handbook of survey research (pp. 439-455). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.