Leisure and tourism studies are characterized by a diversity of approaches coming from different disciplines and using a variety of methods. As a result, studies often use an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary approach, drawing on different frameworks and different methodological approaches to conduct studies. To this end, researchers involved in conducting research projects should consider the research questions they wish to answer based on the purpose of the research, such as whether to conduct a research study to tap into the academic body of knowledge or conduct a research study. study. for a professional client or a business organization that is interested in research for marketing purposes. A researcher can consider these different approaches as a toolkit that can be called upon, as appropriate, to carry out a study on a particular topic for a particular purpose.

Different disciplines that have different approaches include the following:

– the sociological approach, which has provided much of the basis for leisure research, though much less for tourism studies. The sociological approach involves three main axes. One is doing social surveys, some of which are done for pragmatic reasons, and this is considered social research rather than truly academic sociological research. Such surveys involve a quantitative approach, based on the use of statistics and mathematical models of human behavior to make predictions about human behavior. This is sometimes called the “surveys and models approach.” A second sociological approach seeks to explain why people behave as they do when choosing the leisure activities they do; It is designed to analyze the meaning of participation or non-participation in leisure for different groups of people. One such approach to discovering meaning is the existential and symbolic interaction approach, which considers the way in which people negotiate their participation in leisure in light of their relationships of different kinds, from personal and social relationships to their relationships with their community and networks at work. Finally, a third sociological approach is the critical approach that has taken various forms. One is the neo-Marxist approach that has analyzed the way in which individuals can act freely and the degree to which they are limited and influenced by the structure of their society. A key aspect of this approach has been to criticize the capitalist system for exploiting or manipulating people within the system who have little power. Numerous strands of critical theory have influenced this perspective over the past decades, including the feminist perspective that has examined the way women have responded to leisure in light of their diminished power in society. Some other critical approaches have included postmodernism, which has explored the role of electronic communications and the cultural artifacts it produces. He has been especially interested in the content of these expressions of culture rather than in the behavior of the people who create those cultural artifacts.

– The geographical approach, which has been particularly interested in the way in which spaces and landscapes affect the behavior of people and their perception of those spaces and landscapes, especially in decision-making about their travel behaviour. Geographers also look at the way people use different kinds of leisure facilities, such as national parks, gardens, playgrounds, and sports facilities.

– the economic approach, which analyzes the economic valuation of different types of recreational and leisure facilities, such as outdoor recreation areas and artistic installations. One way that researchers using the economic approach have measured results is through a cost-benefit analysis to examine the costs and benefits of particular facilities and programs to the public. Then, too, these researchers have examined how the pricing of different leisure activities has affected demand, and researchers have conducted demand forecasting studies in tourism to examine how much consumers are likely to spend on tourism. leisure activities in a particular place.

– the psychology/social psychology approach, which analyzes the satisfactions that people derive from their free time, the motivations that lead them to participate in a particular form of free time, how their relationships with others influence their participation and how their perceptions affect their participation in leisure time activities. In particular, these researchers investigate four main areas: motivation and needs, satisfactions, leisure state of mind, and how personal characteristics, such as gender, age, culture, and personality, affect participation. at leisure. They typically use self-complete questionnaires to survey subjects, such as tourists and students.

– the historical approach, which analyzes historical trends in leisure and tourism, particularly in the US, Canada and Europe.

– the anthropological approach, which has focused mainly on the effect of tourism on indigenous cultures.

– the political science approach, which involves examining the politics of decision-making about leisure activities in a particular location. This approach has also considered how tourism affects political behavior.