Notes on the 24/05/2021 tutorial
Index:
- Ways to improve one’s research question
- What-Why-How
- Original question
- My own feedback on my question
- Tutor’s feedback
- Peer feedback
- Improving the question
- Updated question
Ways to improve one’s research question:
- The answer should not be in the question
- Identify what is the problem/niche/gap in the market
- Indicate an area for potential -HOW by creating and testing
- Never assumer that people know what you are talking about so must be very clear
- Write description of the question
What-Why-How:
What = the question
Why = personal and professional motivations
How = Ex: I will use humour and design to create an artefact intervention
Original question:
How can I make unprofitable mass tourists behave more like cultural tourists to promote sustainable tourism in Venice?
My own feedback on my question:
The terms: (unprofitable, cultural tourists, sustainable) lack clarity. It is clear in my head what they refer to but, for instance, not everyone is aware of the characteristics of a cultural tourist.
The terms “sustainable” is also very unclear as it can englobe many significations including environmental , which is not something i am exploring. This can lead to confusion.
Tutor’s feedback:
I am merging two ideas in this question:
Behaviour and Financial
Then, to clarify my thoughts it would be a good idea to create two different questions, each focusing one of these aspects of tourism. They may organically come back together. Moreover, some of this information could end up in the HOW.
I should look at models and examples of heritage preservation and see how they were successful or not.
Peer feedback:
I am assuming that all mass tourists are unprofitable and all cultural tourists profitable.
I think to clarify this i need to further define what I mean by “unprofitable”, which is mainly financial. It is a key characteristics of Cultural tourists that they spend a significant amount of money in the host location, hence they are always more “profitable” than “unprofitable” mass tourists.
I need to make it clear that I am targeting a specific group of unprofitable mass tourists (the day tourists).
However, i do not quite agree with the statement that I assume that all mass tourists are unprofitable as I specify that I am targeting “unprofitable” mass tourists.
Improving the question:
I separated the two themes that I was merging in the original question (tourist behaviour and financial profit) and wrote a new question for each.
Financial:
How can I make financially unprofitable day tourists more profitable in Venice?
Behaviour:
How can I make day tourists pay more attention to deserted areas of the city and cultural institutions?
When I was found with these two versions I felt a little stuck as since my projects encompasses the two sides, I was not sure which direction to take. My peers made me realise that focusing on behaviour was probably more appropriate because the financial benefit will be a side effect of bringing more life to cultural institutions and under-explored areas of the city. Additionally, it sounds less brutal and money-focused to avoid putting finances at the center of the conversation.
Once I knew which direction to take i started refining the question and making it more compatible with my intervention (a gasified tour experience). Therefore, I thought it was key to include the word gamification as it what I am trying to test.
Updated question:
How can gamification encourage day tourists to seek access to cultural institutions and under-explored areas of the city of Venice?
Description:
The aim of this study is to use gamification to encourage day tourists, the most invasive and least profitable tourist group in Venice, to drift off from the crowded and unauthentic tourist routes and discover under-explored areas of the city to augment financial profitability and overall city well-being.