CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction
This chapter is devoted to the dissertation's research methodology, as stated in the title. In this section,
the author goes into greater detail about the project's research strategy, method, approach, and data
collection methods, sample selection, research process, data analysis type, and ethical considerations.
3.5 Data collection method and tools
In-depth interviews were employed in this study. Personal and unstructured interviews, known as "in
depth interviews," are designed to elicit the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of participants about a
specific research topic. In personal interviews, interviewers and interviewees are in direct contact,
eliminating the possibility of non-response rates. However, interviewers must have developed the
necessary interviewing skills to conduct a successful interview (Fisher, 2005, Wilson, 2003). In addition,
unstructured interviews allow for the generation of conclusions that were not originally intended to be
drawn about a research subject because of the flexibility of the interview flow. This means that the
interview could deviate from its stated goals and objectives (Gill & Johnson, 2002). Researchers used a
semi-structured questionnaire as a guide for their interviews as far as data collection instruments are
concerned. The researcher had some questions prepared to help guide the interview toward meeting
the study's goals, but as the interviews progressed, more questions arose.
3.6 Sample selection
Purposive sampling was used to collect the data for this study. Members of the sample are chosen
based on their familiarity with, connections to, and expertise in a particular research topic according
to this technique, which falls under the category of "nonprobability sampling techniques" (Freedman
et al ., 2007). The participants in this study were chosen because of their close ties to the
phenomenon being studied, their prior work experience in the tourism industry, their participation in
a number of tourism-related initiatives and partnerships, and their demonstrated research
experience and knowledge of raw data pertaining to the study's destinations. The participants in this
study were executives of the locations that were selected:
1) Gordon Heights
2) Buhawen
3) Rabanes
4) Sta. Fe
5) San Rafael
6) Aglao
3.8. Data analysis
The data gathered from personal interviews was analyzed using content analysis. These studies,
according to Moore and McCabe (2005), use themes and sub-themes to organize data so that it can be
compared across studies. Among the advantages of content analysis is that it simplifies and reduces the
amount of data collected, while also producing results that can be quantified. In addition, researchers
can use content analysis to structure qualitative data in a way that meets the achievement of research
goals. Content analysis, on the other hand, is susceptible to human error because researchers may
misinterpret the data they collect, resulting in inaccurate and unreliable conclusions (Krippendorff &
Bock, 2008).