Ontology, epistemology: Paradigms and parameters for qualitative approaches to tourism research

This chapter provides some first steps in 'thinking about' qualitative research in general, and qualitative tourism research in particular. In writing this chapter, we made the deliberate decision to make it one of 'broad brush strokes', developing a general backdrop for the 'staging' of qualitative research. We have left it to others to add the specific details derived from their own approaches to qualitative investigations presented in the later chapters of this book. In this chapter, we aimed to provide a backdrop against which their specific investigations could be appreciated more insightfully. Structurally, the chapter revolves around a series of 'grand tour questions'.