Researching trust in tourism: methodological issues and associated concerns

This chapter offers insights regarding practical concerns and associated issues when selecting methods for empirical trust research in tourism development and planning. Following discussion of the varied nature of trust and the importance of clear conceptualisation, concerns and issues associated with quantitative, qualitative, multiple and mixed methods designs are considered. These highlight the importance of fit between trust conceptualisation, researchers’ ontological and epistemological beliefs and method or methods adopted. They also emphasise the importance within quantitative research of establishing a trust scale’s derivation; and within qualitative research of assessing the appropriateness of the data collection technique to the research question.