This textbook comprises a fine introduction to tourism and leisure research methods for undergraduates or postgraduates taking their first course on the topic. The book is well written and edited, and provides practical approaches to addressing the standard topics in tourism research with helpful references to SPSS for Windows. The authors introduce research principles, methodology and research design in the first two chapters. Then they address research evaluation including ethical issues.
Chapters 4 and 5 cover secondary data analysis and qualitative methods. However, analysis of qualitative data is not picked up until chapter 8. Chapters 6 and 7 address sample surveys and their methodologies.
Chapters 9 through 11 presents the principles and applications of statistical analyses to quantitative data. The book ends with a helpful chapter on writing research reports. Appendices comprise a random number table, and a sample questionnaire and related SPSS tables.
Each chapter ends with several student activities to reinforce understanding and an extensive listing of references. Unfortunately, there is no glossary of terms, and sometimes the UK examples defy comprehension by the rest of us. But these are minor shortcomings.
