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The Role of Local Food in Maldives Tourism - Scholarly Commons ...

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On the other hand, the focus <strong>of</strong> the research moves away from a positivist paradigm if<br />

the answers to the follow<strong>in</strong>g four questions are ‘yes’:<br />

1. Is reality socially constructed by the <strong>in</strong>teractions <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>dividuals?<br />

2. Should the <strong>in</strong>vestigation focus on what is mean<strong>in</strong>gful to <strong>in</strong>dividuals <strong>in</strong> the social<br />

world?<br />

3. Should the conscious experience <strong>of</strong> human life be studied?<br />

4. Is human action a response to <strong>in</strong>teraction with others and the perceptions and<br />

experience <strong>of</strong> others?<br />

Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Veal (1997), leisure is a qualitative phenomenon and so for many<br />

researchers qualitative research is the most suitable technique for leisure and tourism<br />

studies. Similarly, Riley and Love (2000) affirm that although tourism research requires<br />

quantification, ma<strong>in</strong>ly due to the economically driven nature <strong>of</strong> the <strong>in</strong>dustry, qualitative<br />

research provides an important perspective from which to view the phenomenon.<br />

<strong>The</strong>refore, “tourism needs to embrace a general recognition <strong>of</strong> the legitimacy <strong>of</strong> a<br />

variety <strong>of</strong> research tools” (Walle, 1997, p. 535). In this regard, it is proposed that no<br />

method is privileged over the other, and the ideal method would be the most appropriate<br />

one for the task at hand (Veal, 1997).<br />

This research will follow the <strong>in</strong>terpretive research paradigm. <strong>The</strong> design <strong>of</strong> this research<br />

will be a case study that uses mixed methods which will be conducted from a grounded<br />

theory perspective.<br />

3.2 Grounded theory<br />

Grounded theory is “theory that was derived from data” (Strauss & Corb<strong>in</strong>, 1998, p.<br />

12). This approach <strong>in</strong>volves collect<strong>in</strong>g and <strong>in</strong>ductively analys<strong>in</strong>g data to build “middle-<br />

range theoretical frameworks” derived from the collected data (Charmaz, 2000, p. 509).<br />

<strong>The</strong> emerg<strong>in</strong>g themes and concepts are coded; this helps to categorize the data and leads<br />

to theory development (Patton, 2002):<br />

What dist<strong>in</strong>guishes the discussion <strong>of</strong> theory <strong>in</strong> much <strong>of</strong> the literature<br />

on qualitative methods is the emphasis on <strong>in</strong>ductive strategies <strong>of</strong><br />

theory development <strong>in</strong> contrast to theory generated by logical<br />

deduction from a priori assumption. (p. 125).<br />

One <strong>of</strong> the strong po<strong>in</strong>ts <strong>of</strong> grounded theory is that s<strong>in</strong>ce theory is drawn from the data,<br />

it is more likely to “resemble the ‘reality’” and present better <strong>in</strong>sight and understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />

45

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